Strategy & Operations » Leadership & Management » Last chance to sign up to the CFO Agenda 2015

Last chance to sign up to the CFO Agenda 2015

Former Sainsbury's boss Justin King to speak at Financial Director CFO Agenda conference in June

RETAIL turnaround specialist Justin King (pictured) will be this year’s keynote speaker at the CFO Agenda 2015.

King, who served as CEO of J Sainsbury for a decade and is widely regarded as one of the most successful British business leaders of recent times, will headline Financial Director’s flagship one-day conference, to be held at the prestigious Royal Society of Arts, London on 19 June.

A full programme can be viewed here.

To book your place at this event click here.

The ‘supermarket king’ will be joined by a generous peppering of incisive thinkers and diligent doers from the upper echelons of the UK corporate landscape – people like Naomi Hill, CFO of IBM UK & Ireland, and George Buckley, chief UK economist, Deutsche Bank, as well as senior finance representatives from Royal Dutch Shell and eBay. It is a speaker list dripping with talent, with King providing the keynote speech.

When King was appointed chief executive, Sainsbury’s was haemorrhaging market share and, despite huge investment, struggling to compete with its rivals. Taking difficult and sometimes controversial decisions, he launched a company-wide overhaul. After just a year in the role, he reported the first improvement in the beleaguered supermarket’s quarterly sales figures for more than two years.

Pioneering dramatic changes in the relationship between management and staff, he introduced a ‘tell Justin’ scheme to encourage honest feedback from employees and even manned a checkout in the Christmas rush. Four years after taking charge, Sainsbury’s reported twelve consecutive quarters of growth and hit its sales targets ahead of time.

King led Sainsbury’s during a period of seismic changes in the retail and supermarket landscape, which included diversifying into general merchandise, the rise of online shopping and of discount retailers, the move into smaller stores, and a cut-throat price war between rivals Tesco and Asda. Sainsbury’s steered a tight path, balancing quality and price, and moved quickly into online and convenience shopping.

Prior to taking the role at Sainsbury’s, King kicked off his career as a marketing trainee with Mars before moving on to Pepsi and Häagen-Dazs. He then joined Asda as MD and later went on to run food for M&S.

King’s speech will see him tackle the vagaries of leadership, a topic that will see him take up his list of ‘ten Cs’ for great leadership. He also considers his personal journey and the lessons it’s delivered, as well as ethical business.

The CFO Agenda 2015 is a key date for your diary and is free to attend for CFOs of blue-chip companies. To be sure of reserving your place, please contact Rubie Romanay on 0207 316 9706   or [email protected]. ?

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