19:46

Sainsbury’s top man steps down just as the panic-buying revenues roll in

Mike Coupe is preparing to deliver Sainsbury’s annual results on Thursday, his last presentation to investors as head of Britain’s second biggest supermarket chain. After almost six years at the top, the 59-year-old is retiring on 31 May, and will hand over to Simon Roberts, the group’s retail and operations director.

You wonder how Roberts might be feeling about that. Few could have predicted the challenges facing the retailer, and the country, when Coupe’s departure was announced in January – just as Public Health England was declaring that the risk to the British public from coronavirus was low.

Even for a business that goes back 150 years, Sainsbury’s (and its retail rivals) are dealing with truly historic circumstances, and huge pressure on supply chains.