Former Tory cabinet minister Lord Heseltine will tonight hand over Management Today’s Most Admired Leader award to Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury’s.
At a glittering awards ceremony at Claridge’s, King will pick up the award which was won several times by his erstwhile archrival Sir Terry Leahy, former chief executive of Tesco. Last year the main prize went to WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell.
King captured 10.6% of the Management Today readers’ vote, pipping easyJet’s Carolyn McCall with 6%.
Commenting on suggestions he might call it a day at at the grocers, King, 52, said: “Yes, I’m closer to the end than I am to the start of my career at Sainsbury’s, and I had my first conversation about succession five years back. That’s good practice. I’m relatively young with plenty left in the tank. If I woke up one day and wasn’t enjoying it I would stop.”
The most admired company award goes to Diageo and John Lewis picks up the BSI award for “continual excellence.”
