Sarah Appleton Email & Phone Number

Cambridge, GB

Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

Providing strategic commercial and HR advice to senior executives.

Watford, United Kingdom

Watford, United Kingdom

Operating Board Director leading the People and Property divisions and with accountability for delivering key business change projects.

• Leader of commercial strategy and change function across the total c.£20bn food business; comprising end-to-end value chain efficiency project team, Sainsbury's primary logistics function and a data and insight team.
• Delivered in excess of £100m cost benefit in first 2 years of change programme
• Given responsibility for two key corporate change programs, including chairmanship of cross-divisional steering groups, on the back of proven delivery
• Developed and launched a new, explicitly commercial strategy for the Supply Chain division
• Led the inception, planning and roll out of Sainsbury’s ‘drop and drive’ operation
• Led operational reporting and analysis for Sainsbury’s food business, working closely with key stakeholders across the business, including Operating Board

• Leader of supply chain operation for a business unit in excess of £6.6bn sales, 5.4m stocking points and 16k SKUs and covering ambient, fresh and frozen. Team of 45
• Delivered best ever in-store availability at the same time as beating both waste and stock budgets
• Drove the customer and commercial agendas within Supply Chain during a challenging period, changing the focus away from operational KPIs to a focus on driving value for the business
• Initiated a review of low velocity, short-life SKUs to reduce waste without limiting customer choice – this initiative has now delivered more than £10m pa bottom line benefit to date
• Played a key role in restructuring the Supply Chain team, while maintaining talent development

London, United Kingdom

• P&L owner and highly effective negotiator for categories covering £1.1bn pa sales, with accountability for development and execution of customer proposition and sourcing strategies
• Delivered market share, sales and gross margin growth for two full financial years
• Executed tenders to unlock net business benefit in excess of £3m pa
• Executed ‘Value Simplicity’ price architecture and promotional strategy changes
• Oversaw creation and implementation of assortments and merchandising plans for all store formats
• Shaped customer-driven product strategies (NPD and EPD) to drive organic category growth

• Effective project manager and facilitator, supporting the creation, testing and roll out of value proposition and range improvements for trading categories covering in excess of £2.2bn pa sales
• Constructed category-level visions, annual plans, objectives and budgets
• Spearheaded change in assortment selection and merchandising methodology for the food business, moving towards a more analytics-driven approach
• Led the cluster/assortment planning function for the category, with responsibility for building master assortments, planograms and delivering data-driven insight to optimise both macro and micro space plans
• Ownership of governance structure for promotional planning for all Ambient Food

• Trusted internal advisor to the Sainsbury's PLC and Operating Boards; setting PLC Board strategic agenda, with a particular focus on facilitating diversification strategy discussions
• Designed and facilitated workshops with director-level executives to enable the business to identify and discuss key longer-term strategic opportunities and risks – now integral to corporate risk process
• Identified key propositional and operational opportunities in the online non-food business unit and developed a hit list of recommended actions which were adopted as immediate priorities
• Led the assessment of several potential acquisition opportunities, including managing external advisors

• Trusted advisor to multiple FTSE 350 and equivalent private and overseas clients (typically PLC and Operating Boards). Clients worked for included: GAME, Shop Direct, Cott Beverages, Northern Foods, New Look, Peacocks.
• Attained fast-track promotion through series of increasingly responsible roles
• Delivered a detailed global Board strategy for international consumer goods company, including local commercial strategies by geography and acquisition opportunity register
• Undertook a detailed strategy review for French subsidiary of UK retail chain to account for different market characteristics, including consumer segmentation (via surveys and focus groups), assessment of competitive.
• Carried out a detailed review of market dynamics and associated opportunities and risks for a large comparison website operator, including analysis of cost of customer acquisition (SEO vs SEM vs ATL marketing).
• Developed new retail and consumer credit proposition for a UK home shopping retailer

London, United Kingdom

Advanced Certificate (Level 7), Human Resources Management, Distinction

Employment Law; Reward Management; Resourcing and Talent Management; and Skills for Business Leadership

Meng / Ma (Cantab), Manufacturing Engineering Tripos, Ii:1