Sainsbury’s is set to reward its employees with a bumper of £60m bonus pot following a 9 per cent boost in group profits.
Despite the challenging economic climate, the UK’s third-largest supermarket achieved strong growth in the twelve months to April 2011, with sales increasing 7 per cent to just under £23 billion and profits totalling £665 million.
Over the year, Sainsburys opened 68 new stores and extended 24 existing sites across the UK, which saw over 6,000 full and part-time jobs crated in the process.
The company said around 125,000 staff across the business will share a £60 million bonus pool later this month as a reward for their hard work.
“Customer numbers are at an all-time high of 21 million transactions every week, which is up one million on last year,” said Sainsburys chief Justin King.
“Strong sales growth, combined with productivity savings and tight control on operating costs, have helped to deliver good profit growth.”
“We have added gross space of 1.5 million sq ft to our store estate, creating over 6,000 new jobs with Sainsbury’s.”
He added that Sainsbury’s plans to open up to 20 new superstores this year, extend 20 existing sites and launch at least one convenience store every week as part of a three-year expansion plan, which is expected to create a further 20,000 jobs .
