The hullabaloo that surrounded news of the appointment of Sir Peter Davis masked the fact Sainsbury also rejigged its management. Most of the changes came in the supermarkets division as new md David Bremner sorted out his team. The decision to move Sainsbury's marketing director Kevin McCarten into a more hands on operational role ­ filling the newly created post of stores director ­ came as no real surprise. Such a move had been widely expected after it emerged before Christmas that Sara Weller, retail marketing director at Abbey National, had been poached by Sainsbury. Company sources insist McCarten's new job is a "big step up" and not a demotion. One of his key tasks will be looking at how to segment Sainsbury's stores, not so much by format but by the sort of customers using them. "That needs a brilliant understanding of customers and is very akin to the marketing role," said one insider. "This is fundamental to what's going to sort us out." In addition, McCarten will remain on the main Sainsbury board as group brand and marketing director. The reshuffle also saw commercial director Robin Whitbread being moved to fill the newly created post of corporate development director, reporting directly to Sir Peter. Whitbread, a main board director who has been with Sainsbury for 31 years, was responsible for the commercial division in the supermarkets' business. Stuart Mitchell, currently commercial strategy director, will now head up the division for an interim period while Sainsbury searches for a replacement for Whitbread. Mitchell is a popular internal candidate for the post, but last week's decision means Bremner has clearly decided to look outside for someone with a stronger track record. There was no news on whether the division ­ created last April along category management lines ­ will now be restructured. That decision will wait until a new director has been appointed. Also in the supermarkets division, John Adshead has been appointed resources and services director responsible for human resources, information technology and supply chain. Distribution director Martin White will now report to him. Although Sir Peter does not join Sainsbury until March 1, he went over the apppointments with Bremner last week and must, therefore, approve. Nevertheless, given Sir Peter's reputation, it is likely that he will be pushing for more changes in the supermarkets division once he gets his feet under the table. {{NEWS }}

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