Former CEO of Sainsbury’s, Who Held Executive Roles at Asda, M&S, Häagen-Dazs, PepsiCo & Mars

Justin King has over 30 years experience in executive level positions. He is known widely for his time as Chief Executive Officer of Sainsbury. He joined the company in 2004 and for the next ten years, Justin King turned the group around with nine years of growth, trebling profits and delivering a total shareholder return of 85 per cent.

Justin did this by implementing a successful programme to ‘Make Sainsbury’s Great Again’.

As an advocate for responsible business, Justin King was influential in building the retailer’s long-standing relationship with Comic Relief, where the company pledged £1 for every £10 donated to the charity. In addition, he was instrumental in pioneering the company’s sponsorship of the Paralympic Games.

Previous to Sainsbury, Justin had spent 3 years as Director of Food at M&S.  Here among other things, he was also responsible for the development of M&S’s hugely successful, Simply Food. Simply Food is now an iconic brand all over the UK.

Justin King had also spent time as MD of Häagen-Dazs. Here he was responsible for the introduction of the brand in the UK. The first Häagen-Dazs shop opened in London’s Leicester Square in 1990, becoming the biggest selling brand ice-cream shop in the world.

It was in 1983 just after graduating from Bath university, Justin secured his first job as a shift manager with Mars confectionary. The job was on the production of the chocolate brand, Galaxy.  He then moved to PepsiCo which also took him to the Middle East for a while.

Justin King is a Non-Executive Director of Marks & Spencer plc.  He was Vice Chairman of Terra Firma until May 2021, where he acted as an adviser to the General Partner.

It was in 2022 Justin was made Chairman of Allwyn Entertainment Ltd. He had previously been an Advisor and member on its Bid Advisory Board and Chairman of Dexters in that same year.

He is also a Non-Executive Director of Itim Group and is a Senior Adviser to Snappy Shopper, Rezolve, Itsu and Atrato, Investment Adviser to Supermarket Income REIT (SUPR).

Justin gained a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2011 Birthday Honours. This was for services to the retail industry.  In 2013 Justin King was named ‘Most Admired Business Leader’ by Management Today.

Privately, Justin has a keen interest in motor racing and fast cars. He has actually been described as a “petrol head”.  Justin has also been a former chairman of an F1 motor racing team and his son Jordan, is himself a racing driver.

A brilliant motivational, business speaker, Justin King speaks regularly on the topics of leadership through change and responsible business. 

Why Hire Justin King?