Gaelle Walker

Sainsbury's has appointed current Tesco property services director Neil Sachdev to the newly created role of commercial director. Sachdev's appointment is the fourth senior defection from Tesco to Sainsbury's in the past two years.

He is set to take up his post in March 2007 alongside Ken McMeikan who joined the Sainsbury's team from Tesco at the beginning of 2005, and Andy Coleman, who came on board as a zone managing director in January of this year.

Sainsbury's poached Tesco's former category manager for confectionery biscuits and seasonal, Xavier Vidal, in August 2005.

Sachdev brings with him 28 years of experience at Tesco where he has worked in a variety of different roles including supply chain director, support director and retail director. His most recent posting is as prop-erty services director, where he had responsibility for a wide range of property and operational issues.

He was also a member of Tesco's stores board, and was the retailer's representative for the Competition Commission's investigation in 2000. Sachdev's new brief will be wide-ranging, but he is expected to focus his initial energies on

procurement, and will report to trading director Mike Coupe. He will also join the company's new senior leadership team, and sit on the retail board.

Sachdev said that he

was excited to be joining the Sainsbury's team and that he was "looking forward to being able to play a key role in the company's future plans".

Sainsbury's trading

director Mike Coupe said: "We are delighted to have secured somebody of Neil's calibre. His excellent retail experience and strong understanding of our market will be a great asset to Sainsbury's and the company's management team. We look forward to the significant contribution that he will make."

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