Michael Andrew Coupe (born 26 September 1960) is a British businessman who was the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of J Sainsbury plc, parent company of the supermarket chain Sainsbury's, from July 2014 until the end of May 2020.

Early life

Coupe was born in

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, Hertfordshire in 1960. He grew up in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. Coupe received a bachelor's degree in Physics from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

in 1982.

Career

Coupe began his career at

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

, where he became assistant brand manager for Flora margarine. Coupe joined Sainsbury's in 2004. In 2010, he became responsible for the marketing, trading and online operations of the company. In January 2014, Sainsbury's then CEO Justin King announced Coupe as his successor, after stating that he would be leaving the role in June 2014. Soon after Coupe's appointment, he announced a strategic review that aimed to address the challenges caused by a changing retail market. In 2016 he led the takeover of

Home Retail Group Home Retail Group plc was a British retail company established on 10 October 2006, following the spin-off of GUS (retailer)#Other retail and manufacturing growth, Argos Retail Group (ARG) from GUS (retailer), GUS plc. It was listed on the Londo ...

which included Argos and

Habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

. In March 2018 he announced new pay arrangements for colleagues. Coupe oversaw digital transformation and investment at Sainsbury’s, including the introduction of the UK's first till-free stores and the digitisation of the

Nectar loyalty card Nectar is a loyalty card scheme in the United Kingdom run by Nectar 360 Limited, company wholly owned by Sainsbury's. The scheme is the largest in the United Kingdom, and comprises a number of partner companies including Sainsbury's, Esso, Argos ...

through a new app and website. In January 2020 it was announced that Coupe would retire from his position at the end of May 2020, to be succeeded by Simon Roberts, the company's head of retail and operations. In October 2020, Coupe took a three-month appointment as head of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

infection testing at NHS Test and Trace, an outsourced agency created by the government in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, before being appointed a non-executive director of

NHS England NHS England, formally the NHS Commissioning Board for England, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning si ...

from January 2021. In 2022 the

Runnymede Trust The Runnymede Trust is a British race equality and civil rights think tank. It was founded by Jim Rose and Anthony Lester as an independent source for generating intelligence for a multi-ethnic Britain through research, network building, lead ...

won a High Court action that the public sector equality duty had not been complied in this appointment, with the trust suggesting that people outside the acquaintance of senior Conservative politicians were not considered. Additionally in January 2021 it was announced that Coupe had been appointed as chairman of Oak Furniture Land. In July 2021 Coupe was announced as chairman of Harding Brothers Retail Limited.

Personal life

He married Jill Parkinson in

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

in May 1990, and they have two daughters. In recent years he has lived in the Holgate area of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

but he frequently travels between London and Yorkshire. He is a keen guitarist and also enjoys photography and cycling. Coupe became a life patron for GroceryAid in August 2015. He was previously the fundraising president from 2012 to 2014.

Controversies

In April 2018, Coupe took part in interviews in relation to a forthcoming merger between

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

and

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

-owned UK subsidiary

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

. After the first interview, during the transition to the next, his microphone remained switched on and he began singing " We're in the Money". The video was widely shared and critiqued. Coupe later released a statement apologising for his "unfortunate choice of song, from the musical 42nd Street", which he had seen the previous year. Sainsbury's issued a further statement: "We all know these songs stay in your head. To attach any wider meaning to this innocent, personal moment is preposterous." When the merger failed to get approvals, he accused the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal competition regulator in the United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair beh ...

of having "fundamentally moved the goalposts... changed the shape of the ball and chosen a completely different playing field" in its analysis. He said that with "a completely unpredictable set of competition rules, who would invest in this country?", telling

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

: "This is just outrageous". In 2019 he was criticised for reducing the amount traditionally paid towards a Christmas party for Argos colleagues, when he sought to bring it in line with money paid towards the Sainsbury’s Christmas party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coupe, Mike 1960 births Living people Alumni of the University of Birmingham British retail chief executives English businesspeople in retailing English chief executives People from Watford People from Horsham District Sainsbury's people