Companies: GRG   

Retail bakery Greggs has appointed Sainsbury’s retail director Ken McMeikan as new chief executive to replace Sir Michael Darrington, who steps down in July. Sir Michael, a Harvard Business School graduate, is leaving the company after 25 years and the announcement of full-year results revealing continued growth and expansion.

McMeikan has extensive international retail expertise and during his time with Sainsbury’s since 2005 he was credited with playing a key role. At Greggs, he will be placing a particular focus on creating ‘a much more unified and customer-focused national brand’ and on plans to expand store numbers from the present 1,350 to more than 2,000.

Before joining Sainsbury’s, McMeikan worked at Tesco for more than a decade. As chief executive of its Europa Foods convenience stores arm, acquired in 2002, he managed its integration into the Tesco Express format. Additionally, on the international scene, he spent a short period as chief executive of Tesco Japan.