Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe has agreed to become Life Patron of industry charity GroceryAid.
Coupe was president of the GroceryAid Fundraising Committee from 2012 to 2014 and was the instigator of the annual GroceryAid Quiz Night.
In this new role, Coupe will help to promote the work of the charity within the industry.
“I’ve been a supporter of GroceryAid for many years and I’m very aware of the great work they do to help colleagues, past and present, in all areas of the grocery industry,” said Coupe.
“I’m honoured to take up the role of Life Patron and look forward to continuing my work with the charity and to contributing further to this very worthwhile cause in the future.”
Coupe was welcomed to his new role by Gillian Barker, director general of GroceryAid.
“It is with great pleasure that the charity recognises Mike Coupe who has given unstinting personal support to GroceryAid for many years,” she said.
Coupe was appointed chief executive of Sainsbury in July 2014, has been a member of its operating board since October 2004 and an executive director since August 2007. He joined the retailer from Big Food Group where he was a board director and managing director of Iceland Food Stores. He has previously worked in senior management roles for both ASDA and Tesco, was appointed to the board of directors of I2C, the consumer insights company, at its inception and he is also a non-executive director at Greene King.
Last month GroceryAid revealed it had raised a record £4.5m (£4,549,480) through annual events and donations during 2014/2015.
Just under £4m (£3,957,787) was spent on welfare helping a total of 3,300 people financially with more than 2,400 of those receiving regular payments.
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