Sainsbury’s boss Simon Roberts’ pay tops £5m

The boss of Sainsbury’s was paid over £5million last year as he warned of the ‘increasing pressure on the cost of living’ for its customers. 

Simon Roberts, who has led the supermarket since June 2020, was paid a total of £5.43million in the 2025/2026 financial year, up from £5.18million the year before.

This was made up of a £1million take-home salary, £1.9million annual bonus and £2.4million in long-term share awards which will be paid out at a later point. 

Roberts said that when he took on the job five years ago, customers had complained Britain’s second biggest grocer was ‘too expensive’ and ‘too often we were inconsistent’. 

He has since pressed ahead with a revival plan to make the grocer more food-focused, which has included reducing the space given to its clothing and homeware products in stores. 

In its annual report published this week, Sainsbury’s said that Roberts stands to make as much as £6.02million next year, with share award levels dependent on targets which include earnings per share and the group’s market share. 

His salary will increase by 3 per cent to £1.04million. 

But the retailer said that its remuneration committee ‘may need to apply judgment in assessing the final performance outcomes’ for its long-term incentives’ given the conflict in the Middle East.

Simon Roberts has said customers are finding it tough and that he ‘really listened’ to complaints that supermarket had too high prices when he started as chief executive 

Sainsbury’s had warned in April that the conflict in the Middle East would ‘impact both our customers and our business’ and profits could come under pressure in the current financial year.  

Writing in the group’s annual report, Roberts acknowledged that times were tough as Government tax policies and inflation related to the war in the Middle East have piled further pressure on supermarkets amid a price war.

‘This last year, every conversation with our customers, colleagues, farmers and suppliers has reinforced just how much people are weighing up every decision they make,’ he wrote.

‘Against a backdrop of increasing pressure on the cost of living and changing shopping habits, it’s a constant reminder that we must do everything we possibly can to earn people’s trust and loyalty… As global uncertainty around us continues, this must remain our absolute priority.’

But he said the group was ‘well placed to navigate the challenges of uncertain global events and the potential for volatility around us.’

Roberts’ pay is considerably less than that paid to Britain’s number one supermarket, Tesco. 

Ken Murphy was paid a record-breaking £10.8million last year – the largest earnings deal ever dished out to a British supermarket boss. He has taken home more than £41million since he became chief executive of the UK’s largest grocer in 2020.