Sainsbury has suffered its second blow in the e-commerce arena with the resignation of home shopping supremo Angela Megson. The chain has just pulled the plug on its digital tv channel the Taste Network ­ a joint venture with Carlton Communications ­ due to the lack of advertising. The Taste.co.uk web site will also close and the chain will resume sole control of its recipe and wine sites. Megson's departure, after 11 years with the company, is a real loss for Sainsbury as she was the force behind its home shopping ventures. The chain said she was leaving to "pursue career options". As e-commerce and business development director, Megson set out to create a new culture in the e-commerce division and worked closely with group e-commerce director Patrick McHugh to integrate the online strategy with Sainsbury's Bank. She was also on the Taste Network supervisory board. A spokeswoman denied her departure was related to the venture's failure. Robin Lassiter, formerly a senior manager in the format team, becomes department director and takes charge of Sainsbury Online. Following the promotion of Stuart Mitchell and Sara Weller to assistant mds, the marketing department has created new appointments and responsibilities. Claire Nicholson moves from marketing planning director to planning and performance director and Stephen Vowles, currently customer and category marketing director, becomes customer marketing director with responsiblity for customer management. Brand marketing director Andrew Ground takes on responsibility for product marketing. Over half the country is covered by Sainsbury's to you, but the chain refuses to give out home shopping figures. {{NEWS }}

Topics