Justin King CBE
“I view my time at the University of Bath as a vital part of starting to develop my skills and knowledge for future success.”
— Justin King CBE
BSc in Business Administration, 1983
Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury's, and an alumnus of our BSc in Business Administration, was named the UK's most powerful marketer, after rising to the top of Marketing magazine’s annual Power 100 list in 2008.
Justin graduated from the School of Management in 1983 and has had an impressive career leading up to his current success at Sainsbury’s.
Prior to joining the supermarket chain in March 2004, Justin spent three years at Marks & Spencer as Director of Food where he was instrumental in launching the M&S Simply Food convenience concept. Previously, he spent seven years at Asda where he held roles in Trading and Human Resources before becoming Retail Managing Director for Asda Hypermarkets.
From 1990 to 1994, he led the UK launch and development of Häagen Dazs as Managing Director. He has also worked for Pepsi International and Mars Confectionery.
At Sainsbury’s, King has beaten his own growth targets and managed to successfully strike a balance between making the supermarket appeal to consumers through its promotion of quality, price and ethical provenance - its entire own-brand banana, sugar and tea offering has been converted to Fairtrade - and producing sales figures that have impressed the City.
Justin was awarded a CBE for his services to retail in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2011.
Commenting recently for Universities Week, Justin said: “As one of the UK’s major recruiters, we look to universities to help produce the leaders of tomorrow. A university education helps young people to develop the ability to think, analyse and develop sound judgement. The diversity of challenges facing big businesses today - the economic climate, technology, globalisation and the increasingly sophisticated needs of consumers – demands these skills. I view my time at the University of Bath as a vital part of starting to develop my skills and knowledge for future success."
