黑洞社区

Neil Sachdev is standing in a supermarket aisle being photographed, or at least trying to be. As the photographer tells the commercial director of Sainbury鈥檚 how to stand, an elderly lady with a trolley trundles into the cake aisle, oblivious to what鈥檚 going on. She then stays stock still for five minutes, seemingly unable to decide between the Madeira and the syrup cake.

After the photographer has tried shooting from different angles to cut her out, while simultaneously stifling his giggles, she turns around: 鈥淥oh. Sorry. Am I in the way?鈥�

鈥淥f course not, take as much time as you like,鈥� says Sachdev. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e not buying food from us, then I鈥檓 out of a job.鈥�

This is Sachdev all over. He鈥檚 a retail man through and through, and he believes that the customer is always right.

Sachdev joined Sainsbury鈥檚 14 months ago to run its building projects, having spent the previous 28 years at Tesco, where he started his career as a store manager. His experience on the shop floor defines his approach and he asks everyone he works with to spend a week working in a supermarket 鈥� so that they get it too. He says: 鈥滻t amazes me how many people don鈥檛 do that sort of thing. How many construction project managers go and work next to a brickie and say: 鈥橧鈥檓 going to put up a brick wall with you鈥�?鈥�

Working a week on the shop floor to impress Sachdev could be well worth your while, because he鈥檚 about to spend a lot of money on construction projects 鈥� between 拢700-800m a year for the next three years. Sainsbury鈥檚 plans to grow its space by around 10% during this period. Sachdev says this means an increase of between 65,030m2 and 92,900m2 by 2010. He鈥檒l be opening 10-15 new stores and extending up to 24 existing stores every year.

It鈥檚 all part of the ambition to knock Tesco off the number-one spot: 鈥淲hen I was growing up Sainsbury鈥檚 was the number-one retailer. I want to make that happen again. We鈥檙e on the way: we鈥檝e had 13 quarters now of like-for-like growth. That has never been achieved by Sainsbury鈥檚 before.鈥� Sachdev says Sainsbury鈥檚 has the broadest range of stores of any retailer. 鈥淲e鈥檒l build anything from 3,000ft2 to up to 100,000ft2.鈥� He is less candid about plans beyond the next three years, saying only that he鈥檚 aiming for at least the same rate of expansion.

His reticence is perhaps understandable considering that last month the Competition Commission wrapped up its investigation into supermarkets. The two-year probe looked at the practice of 鈥渓and banking鈥�, where supermarkets buy up sites in areas where they already have a presence but don鈥檛 actually develop them, allegedly to prevent rivals from getting the land.

When I take the issue up with a Sainsbury鈥檚 PR person later, she tells me that the company does not hold a land bank. Although it holds land for which it has not applied for planning, it is 鈥渋n the process of consultations about potential new development鈥� on each of these sites.

The commission has also recommended that all retailers trying to open new branches must pass a competition test to see if another of their stores within a certain area would make the local market uncompetitive. The PR says Sainsbury鈥檚 鈥渁grees with this and it would provide a better deal for local customers鈥�. It seems reasonable to assume it might also see it as an opportunity to claw some ground back from Tesco.

In the meantime, however, the company is cracking on with its three-year building programme. It looks to be a relatively enlightened client, using, for example, 鈥渓ean鈥� production methods. These include a consolidation centre in west London which has been set up to improve logistics on sites in the South-east.

More consolidation centres are planned and these too have been influenced by Sainsbury鈥檚鈥� obsession with customer service. 黑洞社区 materials are distributed and delivered just in time rather than hanging around on site for long stretches, just as food is distributed via central warehouses.

I don鈥檛 intend to have too cosy a relationship with anyone because we need some tension

Neil Sachdev, Sainsbury鈥檚

Sachdev says: 鈥淭he construction industry is overly complex and cumbersome at this sort of thing. As food retailers we realise that ultimately it鈥檚 about getting things somewhere in the simplest way.鈥�

Sainsbury鈥檚 also builds off site, another 鈥渓ean鈥� technique. For instance, at a store in Frome, Somerset, a 929m2 extension was added after being built off site and was open for business within 12 weeks, as opposed to the traditional 22 weeks. 鈥淭he stores always stay open while extensions are being built,鈥� says Sachdev. 鈥淚f we close, where will customers get their food?鈥�

Sustainability is another key theme to the expansion plan. Sachdev says reclaim technology, which recaptures heat and cold from fridges for heating and air-conditioning, is becoming standard in a lot of stores. More and more glazing is being used to provide natural light and the most energy-efficient artificial lighting possible is being used.

The Greenwich store is the firm鈥檚 green flagship, boasting geo-thermals that use natural heat from the ground. And the building process itself is being made greener. Sainsbury鈥檚 says it has exceeded a target it set itself to recycle 100% of construction waste on 60% of sites by March this year, with 80% of sites now doing so.

So contractors and consultants that work for Sainsbury鈥檚 will have to be up on sustainability, but what else? The company uses 12 main contractors, which are on a partnership framework. Sachdev has them on design-and-build contracts. He says: 鈥淭he way we鈥檙e constructing our stores will mean we鈥檙e going to have a price list for every size of store I build. So I鈥檒l know how much the steel costs because I鈥檓 procuring it. I鈥檒l know what the shelving costs because I鈥檓 procuring it. I know how much the groundworks are going to be, and so on.鈥� This means the only thing left to price up is labour. 鈥淎nd we鈥檒l know what the standard costs of fees are. So the only negotiation over those will take place once a year or once every two years. We鈥檒l talk about what profit we would like to make, agree a number and do a deal.鈥�

He says: 鈥淓ventually a number of jobs should just be awarded. We know what the price structure is and the rest we鈥檒l tender, just to test the market to make sure we鈥檙e not out of keel with what鈥檚 going on. And that makes everyone very, very honest. And more importantly it keeps us competitive as well.鈥�

However, Sachdev also works with contractors not on the framework. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 intend to have too cosy a relationship with anyone because we need some tension. One thing I鈥檓 very clear on is that my door is always open to any other contractor who wants to work with us.鈥�

What about in-house construction personnel? 鈥淭he key people on my team are my customers 鈥︹��

Right 鈥� 鈥淣o, it鈥檚 really important. I鈥檒l always start by sitting down with about 200 customers before we start working on a store and ask them what they want. This is what we鈥檙e working on, how is this going to work for you? After that we go to colleagues and say: 鈥楬ow can we make this as simple as possible to work in?鈥� Then my team come in.鈥�

It鈥檚 an approach that those who do work for the company appreciate: 鈥淪ainsbury鈥檚 talk to people more and get the community on board rather than just barnstorming in. That鈥檚 quite refreshing because some clients are just bullies,鈥� says Laurie Chetwood, founder of architect Chetwood Associates.

After 28 years with Tesco, does it seem strange to Sachdev to be working for one of its main rivals? No, as long as he鈥檚 serving the customer, he鈥檚 happy. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the obsession I see with the customers that I really like 鈥� it鈥檚 about how I can make it work for the customer all the time. That鈥檚 the exciting bit.鈥�