n It's not the hefty salary. He's back because he loves the business ­ and this time the family isn't in his way. Julian Hunt reports on shelved plans for early retirement It's the end of November. Sir Peter Davis is getting ready to sail off into corporate semi retirement. He will soon become non executive chairman of the Pru. And that means he can devote more time to good causes such as the New Deal Task Force as well as to his twin loves of yachting and the opera. Fast forward a couple of weeks. The man from the Pru takes a phone call from the man from Sainsbury. Sir George Bull, chairman of the embattled retail group, wants to pop in for a quick chat with a fellow marketer. That pre-Christmas chat quickly turned into a hard sell for Sainsbury. Sir George was looking for a new chief executive and made it very clear he wanted the 58 year old Sir Peter for the job. Pressure for change at the top of Sainsbury had been building for months when, in mid December, its non executive directors agreed they should look for someone new to revitalise the business. With the help of investment bank Warburgs, Sir George drew up a shortlist of possible candidates. They were looking for heavy hitters. And Sir Peter's name very quickly came to the top of the list. "He was an outside possibility," says Sir George, "He had put his succession in the Pru in place so there was some slight chance he might be persuadable." Sir Peter says the Sainsbury chairman proved "very persuasive". He also offered a whopping salary and bonus worth nearly £1m in the first year alone, with share options potentially worth millions more. Nevertheless, he took his time before agreeing to come on board at Sainsbury. By last week any lingering doubts had evaporated and Sir Peter signed on the dotted line. He says the reason for his apparent prevarication is simple: "I had not intended to do a full-time chief executive's job again. I had expected to do a couple of part-time jobs. I had to ask myself do I want to continue as full-time chief executive?' and do I want to go to Sainsbury?' "The financial package is part of the attraction. But the real attraction is the business and my fondness for it. I never felt I had left." As he explained all this last week ­ sat in a bleak office on the executive floor of Sainsbury's dreary HQ on Stamford Street ­ Sir Peter found it hard to hide the grin that stretched from ear to ear. Hardly surprising, you may think, given the size of his pay packet. But former colleagues insist Sir Peter is no fat cat and say it will not have been the cash that drew him back. Instead, they point out he is a foodie at heart who has never lost his love of retailing and who will relish the chance to work his particular brand of corporate magic at Sainsbury for a second time. When Sir Peter quit in 1986 the business was riding high. His supporters point out that was due in a large part to his efforts as assistant md. But he wanted the top job and knew that was unlikely given he was not family. Worse still, by the time the normally affable Sir Peter left to move to Reed, his rows with then chairman John Sainsbury were legendary at Stamford Street. "I would not say there were rows," says Sir Peter today, "But it seemed to me that I would not become chief executive at least for some time so I decided to go to Reed." It is significant he ensured his appointment as boss of Sainsbury was made with the full blessing of the family, and that they went public with their support. Sir Peter says there's nothing sinister about all that. Given he was making such a big career decision, he just wanted to make sure the company's main shareholders were happy with the idea of him returning to the fold. The City welcomed news of the appointment while Sir George was chuffed to bits at having won his services. Little wonder, given Sir Peter is credited with having transformed Reed from a rambling conglomerate into a focused publishing group, and for rescuing the Pru from the abyss of the pensions mis-selling scandal. "Peter is a mover and a shaker with a tremendously exciting track record in changing culture, developing businesses, putting in change fast and building shareholder value," says Sir George. "He also has a retailing background. All things we need in Sainsbury." It seems a good fit, and Sir Peter clearly thinks so. He has committed himself to Sainsbury for the next four or five years. There'll be little time for larking about on boats or going to the opera. {{NEWS }}