Post by Cantankerous Gas on Jul 5, 2015 9:59:15 GMT
What have the living wage, Bristol Rovers and badgers got in common?
Half a point to those who answered “Steve Hilton”, as the prime minister’s former blue sky thinker is certainly one of the country’s unlikeliest converts to the first cause (while, if it sells a few more copies of his book, he might even consider asking his pal Dave to hug a Rovers fan). But the answer we were really looking for is that they will all be topics with which to bash Sainsbury’s this week as the grocer holds its annual meeting.
Bristol Rovers have been suing the grocer over the retailer’s plans to pull out of a deal to buy the football club’s ground, and Sainsbury’s is expecting a court ruling this week. Its board might also have to take questions from animal rights campaigners, who are attempting to stop the supermarket buying milk from areas where badgers are being culled. And that will merely be the warm-up before somebody brings up the living wage.
There’s an irony here, and not solely because of the grocer’s slogan “Live well for less”. While defending low pay, the Sainsbury’s board will also have to justify what shareholder activist Pirc terms its “significant concerns” over another issue. That would be the, er, potentially huge awards still on offer to former boss Justin King, who has “retained all his outstanding long-term incentive awards in full”.
Half a point to those who answered “Steve Hilton”, as the prime minister’s former blue sky thinker is certainly one of the country’s unlikeliest converts to the first cause (while, if it sells a few more copies of his book, he might even consider asking his pal Dave to hug a Rovers fan). But the answer we were really looking for is that they will all be topics with which to bash Sainsbury’s this week as the grocer holds its annual meeting.
Bristol Rovers have been suing the grocer over the retailer’s plans to pull out of a deal to buy the football club’s ground, and Sainsbury’s is expecting a court ruling this week. Its board might also have to take questions from animal rights campaigners, who are attempting to stop the supermarket buying milk from areas where badgers are being culled. And that will merely be the warm-up before somebody brings up the living wage.
There’s an irony here, and not solely because of the grocer’s slogan “Live well for less”. While defending low pay, the Sainsbury’s board will also have to justify what shareholder activist Pirc terms its “significant concerns” over another issue. That would be the, er, potentially huge awards still on offer to former boss Justin King, who has “retained all his outstanding long-term incentive awards in full”.
