The Trustees

The Sainsbury’s Pension Scheme is set up under Trust – which means the money in the Scheme is kept entirely separate from Sainsbury’s. The Scheme is run by a Trustee company which has nine directors – they’re called ‘the Trustees’ or sometimes ‘the Trustee Directors’.

The Trustee Board includes:

• an independent Chair;
• four Trustees who are nominated by Sainsbury’s, including two independent professional Trustees; and
• four Trustees who are Scheme members (called Member Nominated Trustees, or MNTs). Sometimes we ask members if they’d like to become a Trustee, and we put more information, and an Application Form, on this page. 

The Trustees have specialist advisers to help them, covering everything from investments and member communications to pensioner payroll and administration.

If you have a question or need to contact the Trustees, please get in touch via WTW, the administrator for the Sainsbury’s Section.

Looking after your data

Broadly, this means that:

• we have a legitimate interest in processing certain personal information about you to run the Scheme;
• we may need to share the data with others, including the Scheme’s administrators and its professional advisers;
• given the long-term nature of pension plans, we may need to hold the data about you for the rest of your life; and
• you have certain rights about your data, including the right to see it and ask for inaccuracies to be corrected. 

There’s more information about how we hold, store and share your personal data in the Scheme’s Privacy Notice. 

Satnam Dhooper, Procurement Manager

Satnam works as a Procurement Manager in Procurement & Cost Transformation, where he is responsible for procuring construction services to support the redevelopment of our stores. He has always had a strong interest in pensions and the importance of astute financial investments (in fact, as a child, he wanted to be a stock market trader).

Satnam says, ‘A member’s pension is fundamental to their financial planning. It really appeals to me to have the opportunity to support the running of our Scheme to achieve financial security to our members. Being a Trustee has allowed me to get closer to how we run the Scheme, ensuring that we are always acting with diligence and in the best interest of our members.’ 

When he’s not working, Satnam enjoys socialising with friends and family, and walking – which has become more important given that he works from home more frequently.

Patrick Miller, Director of Grocery Supply Chain

Patrick joined Sainsbury's in 1992 and worked in Retail, Finance & Trading before moving into Supply Chain ten years ago. He became a Trustee in April 2024 and has also volunteered as a trustee and treasurer for Mid Kent MIND for the last two years.

‘I’ve been curious about pensions for several years now, and joining the Trustee Board is an opportunity to broaden my horizons, learn something new and work with some new colleagues,’ he says. Given how complex pensions can be, he is looking forward to the challenge of helping members from all backgrounds understand and engage with their pensions.

As a child, Patrick wanted to be a cricketer, but now he runs to keep fit. He also loves music (80s Indie!) and taking weekend jaunts in his Triumph Spitfire and/or Lambretta.

Martin Rodgers, retired

Martin retired as Head of Supply Development in the Supply Team at Argos in 2018 but is currently still a deferred member of the Scheme and intends to start drawing his pension from September 2024.

Martin first got involved in pensions when he represented Supply members on an employee consultation forum talking about pension changes. ‘I realised then that pensions were much more interesting than I had previously thought,’ he says, ‘so when a vacancy for a Trustee in the HRG (Argos) Pension Scheme came up in 2015, I applied as I wanted to help support the members. When it merged with the Sainsbury’s Pension Scheme, I joined the combined Trustee Board.

‘There are many aspects to pensions that make it a very interesting job – from making decisions about individual members, such as ill-health awards, to dealing with suppliers (such as administrators), regulatory changes and significant corporate events, such as takeovers.’

Martin likes to travel (he has a motorhome), and he also golfs, supports West Ham and does a fair amount of gardening.

Jo Kibble, Learning Experience and Delivery Manager

Jo’s job involves managing a team of design executives who write the learning solutions for the company, according to the business priorities. 

Jo joined the Trustee Board in April 2022, mostly because she wanted to be the voice of the members and represent/look out for their interests. She says, ‘I knew nothing about pension schemes and how they’re run, but it’s such an interesting field – as well as being intricate, challenging and fun!

‘It’s about balancing the interests of the company whilst putting the members’ interests first. We have to invest today to make sure there’s enough money tomorrow to take care of all the members of the pension scheme. It’s really its own business and comes with great responsibility and day-to-day challenges. But it’s also fun to spend time working with likeminded people or external experts who all have the same common goal: taking care of the members in the best and fairest way we can.’

As a child, Jo dreamed of being an engineer and admits she still loves DIY. ‘If it’s broke, I’ll always have a go at fixing it!’

She also loves the theatre and music, walking, and spin classes at the gym.

If you’d like further information about the Scheme, the following documents are available:

Statement of Investment Principles

Implementation Statement

TCFD Report

Net-Zero Statement

Privacy Notice

Can you help us look at things in a new light?

Two of our existing MNTs are due to come to the end of their term of office on DATE, so we’re looking for new Trustees to join the Board. The new MNTs will be appointed for four years.

The role of a Trustee

Trustees have an extremely important role in managing the Scheme. Their main responsibilities are to make sure that members get the benefits promised to them, on time, and that the Scheme has enough money to pay all members’ benefits, now and in the future. 

The Trustees act jointly and have the same legal responsibilities, whether they’re appointed by the Company or drawn from the membership. Their main responsibilities are to:

• act in line with the Scheme’s Trust Deed & Rules (this is the legal document that sets out how the Scheme works);
• act prudently, conscientiously and honestly with good faith;
• act in the best interests of all the members in the Scheme, not just a particular group of members;
• invest the Scheme’s assets; and
• take advice from professional experts where needed, for example, on technical matters. 

Time commitment

The Trustee Board meets at least four times a year with occasional extra meetings (although you’ll be given plenty of notice if any arise). 

As a Trustee, you may also be appointed to one of the sub-committees that meet every quarter. Each sub-committee focuses on a specific area of running the Scheme – for example, one looks at risks to the Scheme, another keeps an eye on the Scheme’s day-to-day administration, and there’s also an investment sub-committee.

If you still work for the Company and you’re appointed a Trustee, you can take paid time off work to attend Trustee meetings and any training sessions that are set up for you by the Sainsbury’s Pensions Department. You’ll be reimbursed for any expenses, such as train tickets to attend meetings, etc.

The Pensions Act 2004 requires Trustees to have appropriate knowledge and understanding about pensions and Trust law, the principles of pension scheme funding and the investment of pension scheme assets. New Trustees will be expected to have a working knowledge of the Scheme Rules and other important Scheme documents within six months of joining the Board.

Skills & experience

We’re inviting all members to apply! You don’t need any technical experience or past knowledge to become a Trustee, and we’ll give you lots of support to help you get up to speed with pension matters. 

What’s important is that you’re open to learning new things, happy to ask questions (or request training) if you don’t understand something, and prepared to give the necessary time to the role. 

There are lots of resources to help you develop your knowledge as a Trustee. The Pensions & Lifetime Savings Association, as well as many legal firms and pensions consultants, offer courses and seminars. The Pensions Regulator offers a free online training course, called the Trustee Toolkit, which is recommended by 98% of trustees who have completed it. The introductory modules cover basic Trust law and give a flavour of what it’s like to be a Trustee. You can check it out at: https://trusteetoolkit.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk

This page on the Pensions Regulator’s website gives further information on the role of the Trustee: www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/trustees

Eligibility

Any member of the Scheme may become a Trustee, as long as they’re over the age of 18 and don’t work for a competitor company*, but there are also certain circumstances under which a person can be disqualified from being a Trustee. This is set out in the Pensions Act 2004 and means you cannot become a Trustee if you:

• have been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty or deception (unless the conviction is spent);
• are an undischarged bankrupt, or have entered into certain other voluntary agreements with creditors;
• have been disqualified from acting as a company director;
• have property in Scotland which is covered by a sequestration order;
• are part of a company where any director of the company has been disqualified from being a trustee; or
• are part of a Scottish partnership where any of the partners have been disqualified from being a Trustee.

It is a criminal offence to act as a Trustee while you are disqualified.

* You may not become a Trustee of the Sainsbury’s Pension Scheme if you work for an organisation in competition with any Sainsbury’s business, such as Aldi, Lidl, Marks & Spencer plc, Alliance Boots, Ocado, Asda, Tesco PLC, Costcutter, The Co-operative Group Limited, Waitrose/John Lewis Partnership, Iceland, Wm Morrison PLC. This list is not exhaustive.

Selection process

We’ve set up a Selection Panel that will review all the applications received, before inviting a shortlist for interview. These interviews will take place in MONTH yyyy.

The panel will be made up of an independent Trustee, an existing Trustee and a colleague from the Pensions Department.

If you have a question, please contact the Pensions Department on 0345 013 0243.

Application Form

Now that you’ve found out more about what the role of a Trustee is all about, we hope you will take the next step and apply.

To apply, you need to send us:

• a completed Application Form (please click here [link to PDF] for the form). You can fill it out online, then print it out, sign it and either scan and email it back to us, or post it to the address below; and
• a one-page CV. 

Please send these to: [email protected]

Vaishali Chavda
Pensions Department
Sainsbury’s Store Support Centre
33 Holborn
London EC1N 2HT

The closing date for applications is DATE.