Sainsbury’s has appointed former Asda supplier change manager Christina Sharp as senior change manager, core commercial transformation.

Sharp spent over five years at Asda, joining in 2021 as commercial strategy manager.

In 2022, she moved into the supplier change manager role within the commercial transformation team, working on the Future Project – a multi‑year technology and systems programme launched after Asda’s separation from Walmart to rebuild or replace over 2,500 systems across the business.

Her responsibilities included coordinating an aligned, cross‑functional change management approach for more than 2,500 of Asda’s external suppliers.

At Sainsbury’s, Sharp joins the core commercial transformation (CCT) team, which is leading a multi‑year overhaul of the retailer’s commercial systems.

In the role, she will help modernise how Sainsbury’s manages pricing, promotions, product data, supplier relationships and overall commercial decision‑making.

The transformation centres on Sainsbury’s partnership with SAP, Accenture and AWS, announced in 2024, to rebuild its commercial systems from the ground up, consolidating legacy platforms and rolling out cloud‑based technology to drive its ‘Next Level’ strategy. Link

As part of the plans, Sainsbury’s has integrated systems and tools into one platform where employees and suppliers can communicate.

Under its Next Level strategy, announced in February 2024, Sainsbury’s aims to become the first choice for food shoppers and reduce costs by £1 billion through investment in technology and infrastructure, it said at the time. Link

The company added it expects capital expenditure to increase to between £800 million and £850 million per year over the next three years, with an additional £70 million earmarked for its electric vehicle charging network.

“Today I start a new chapter at Sainsbury’s, leaving behind a hardworking and dedicated team at Asda,” Sharp said in a LinkedIn post.

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