Sainsbury's CFO at major LUMS event
Published 17 March 2010
Darren Shapland speaking at the LUMS CFO Lecture on 9th March
Darren’s personal contribution to steering Sainsbury’s through its successful “Making Sainsbury's Great Again” five-year recovery plan has been recognised by his being named both FTSE 100 and Finance Director Magazine's Finance Director of the Year for 2009.
Attending the event were alumni from a large number of Lancaster degree programmes – from graduation years 1967 through to 2007 – many of whom now work in senior finance positions or who have links to the finance sector.
Guests were welcomed to the event by Ernst & Young partner Les Clifford, who is responsible for managing their CFO Programme. Professor Sue Cox, Dean of Lancaster University Management School, thanked Ernst & Young for their continued support in hosting this annual event at their offices in London, as well as their commitment to the collaborative Lancaster undergraduate programme, the Ernst & Young Degree. Professor Cox gave a brief update on Lancaster’s continuing success and its increasing global connectivity.
Darren Shapland taking questions with Professor Ken Peasnell of Lancaster's Department of Accounting and Finance.
“Making things simpler” was at the heart of the three-part strategy implemented by Darren Shapland at Sainsbury’s: a strategy which focused on restoring universal appeal, fixing the basics and developing a customer-focused culture throughout the company. This was carried out alongside a focus on profit delivery and developing Sainsbury’s into a market leader in sales and product availability.
The event was an excellent opportunity for alumni to network
- focus on sales and profit, costs, capex and cashflow (S&P and the three Cs)
- incentives linked to this
- customer-focused business
- colleague engagement makes a real difference
One of the questions put to Darren at the end of his talk was about how he viewed the role of a CFO. Darren replied that the role could be a lonely place to be, and that essentially it required the same key skills as a successful small-department leader: “Paint a clear vision, lead by example, don’t panic.”
Presentation attached:
Darren Shapland Presentation
A chance to network informally followed the presentation part of the evening, before guests left to plan their next shopping trip to Sainsbury’s and how to make use of their Nectar points following Darren’s persuasive and well placed insights into the company’s progress!
Networking before the event
