Sainsbury’s has asked Brunswick to step in and rebut widespread
City rumours suggesting the supermarket is up for sale. Brunswick took
on the rebuttal task when Sainsbury’s longstanding financial agency, The
Maitland Consultancy, resigned the account last week.
The resignation came within hours of newspaper reports suggesting the
troubled supermarket giant was up for sale.
Brunswick was originally appointed last month to advise Sainsbury’s on
strategic communications issues.
These include last week’s management rejig under which Sainsbury’s chief
executive Dino Adriano ceded responsibility for the UK supermarkets to
his deputy, David Bremner. Adriano became group CEO, in charge of
’strategy’ and developing overseas and non-food outlets.
Sainsbury’s head of press Pip Wood confirmed that Maitland was no longer
working for the company. ’We’ve been very happy with the work Maitland
have done for us. It’s with some regret that it’s no longer current,’
Wood said.
She added that Brunswick was not directly replacing Maitland and that
much of Maitland’s old brief would be handled in-house by her team and
Sainsbury’s investor relations staff.
Brunswick also works for Sainsbury’s rival Safeway - one of its founding
clients.
