Sainsbury's IT Functions

Sainsbury(J) PLC
13 November 2000


Sainsbury's Signs IT Contract with Andersen Consulting

J Sainsbury plc has now signed a seven year contract to outsource its
supermarket IT functions to Andersen Consulting.  The companies originally
announced they were in detailed negotiations in August 2000.  The agreement
aims to improve radically Sainsbury's business efficiency by modernising its
IT systems and saving costs.

Central to the agreement is the transfer of around 800 IT employees and the
management of third party IT contracts to Andersen Consulting which came into
effect on Sunday November 12, 2000.   

Sir Peter Davis, Sainsbury's group chief executive said 'Driving a step-change
in our IT capabilities is a fundamental part of our business transformation
plans.  Many of the changes we need to make are IT dependent.  Andersens have
excellent IT and retail experience and we are confident they will help us
achieve real competitive advantage and cost reduction in a timescale and at a
cost we could not have achieved on our own.'

Sainsbury's currently spends in excess of £200 million a year on its
supermarket IT systems and operations. Over the seven years of the contract,
the company's IT costs will be around £35 million a year less than they would
have been if Sainsbury's had continued to run its own IT function.  

Under the agreement Andersen Consulting will take responsibility for all
aspects of IT services including running existing systems and networks as well
as developing and installing new systems.

Robert Willett, global managing partner, Andersen Consulting retail, said 'Our
team is committed to achieving vastly improved IT systems to transform
customers' shopping experiences.'

John Adshead, Sainsbury's group board director for IT added 'Over the next two
and a half years, Andersen Consulting will renew all our key systems,
replacing legacy systems with best practice retail packages.  Early
implementation of new office systems, improvements to our e-commerce
electronic shop and to our HR systems is planned by April 2001. Within the
next year we will have replaced our point of sales systems and substantially
upgraded our category management and customer relationship management systems.
By the end of the programme all major systems including depot and store
replenishment will have been renewed.'

For enquires

Investor Relations:  Amanda Cobb 020 7695 6215
Press Office:  Pip Wood 020 7695 7295  
Andersen Consulting: David Martin 020 7844 5197