Sainsbury names gold medal board member

Leading U.K. retailer J. Sainsbury named Jean Tomlin to its board as a non-executive director, effective January 1, 2013.



Tomlin’s appointment follows the previously announced retirement of Anna Ford from her role as non-executive director, effective December 31. In addition to her overall board contribution, Tomlin will chair the company’s corporate responsibility committee and sit on the remuneration and nomination committees.



Tomlin is the HR director for the London 2012 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, where she oversaw the creation and execution of the hugely successful Games Maker volunteering program. She was previously group HR director at Marks & Spencer plc, HR director of Egg plc and sales and operations director of Prudential Direct.



Tomlin began her career as a graduate at Ford Motor Company working in personnel, training and labour relations and has also held a number of non-executive roles, serving on the board of the Greenwich Healthcare Trust and the Student Loans Company. She has also been a commissioner for judicial appointments, a member of the qualifications and curriculum advisory board, the race relations advisory group, and a trustee of CIDA (a South African self-funding university).



“We’re delighted to welcome Jean to our board. Her unique experience and breadth of skills will be a great addition to the board and we particularly look forward to her leadership of the corporate responsibility committee which contributes significantly to the success of Sainsbury’s,” said Sainsbury’s chairman David Tyler on Tomlin’s appointment.



“Sainsbury’s has an outstanding reputation and, with 22 million customers and 150,000 colleagues, touches so many areas of day-to-day life. I very much look forward to playing my part in the company’s future progress,” added Tomlin.