It was never going to be easy for Sainsbury’s to replace Clo Moriarty. As retail & technology director, hers was a uniquely fashioned job title for a rare talent: someone combining the empathy and operational skills of a retail ops director with the highly technical, computational and strategic demands of a CTO.

So it’s no surprise CEO Simon Roberts has opted for a shake-up. In hiring Tracey Clements as its chief retail, logistics & supply officer, Sainsbury’s has recruited a more traditional but nonetheless highly impressive operator with strong and diverse experience in big box, convenience, forecourts and pharmacy, spanning Tesco, Boots and BP. Indeed, when Clements quit BP in January there was much speculation as to her next move, including a potential return to Tesco, as well as smaller and privately owned retailers. Some may link her appointment to Sainsbury’s renewed c-store offensive, but she is well qualified to deliver big trolley shops to fit Sainsbury’s wider strategy too.

Technology integration

But Sainsbury’s has used Moriarty’s departure to further streamline, and arguably strengthen, its senior leadership structure. It makes huge sense for chief marketing, data & sustainability officer Mark Given to take on responsibility for technology, given his remit for loyalty, data and insights, and as Sainsbury’s looks to integrate AI further into its customer offer. Meanwhile Rob Barnes will take on other elements of Moriarty’s role, likely in regard to core IT systems, reporting into Given.

It also makes sense moving Given’s responsibilities for sustainability over to chief commercial officer Rhian Bartlett. Given previously shared responsibility for Sainsbury’s Scope 3 carbon strategy with Bartlett. (Patrick Dunne handles Scope 1 and 2.) But Bartlett’s influence over suppliers and broader sourcing responsibilities make it a better fit. The same thinking prompted Tesco to hand responsibility for sustainability to Ashwin Prasad at Tesco when he was chief commercial officer. But since his appointment as CEO it’s moved again to sit under chief communications & sustainability officer Christine Heffernan. It shows the sustainability remit is a bit of a hot potato in supermarket circles. It’s a shame, given its importance.

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