More than 200 to go as Sainsbury’s wields axe in Holborn

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A spokesman said that the company is "simplifying some central teams to align them for our future growth".

Chief executive Justin King told investors only 10 days ago that he was not planning to carry out any significant job cuts. Today he met some of the 3000 staff who work at the Holborn office to discuss the restructuring.

He revealed that the retail giant, which employs 150,000 p eople, is reorganising its business to move from five main units to three — non-food, grocery and fresh food — which would involve making some roles redundant.

The move comes despite Sainsbury's confounding expectations by reporting a good performance over the Christmas period when like-for-like sales excluding petrol were up 4.5%. But the retailer has been working on cutting costs for some time.

It announced plans to relocate its head office from its current 300,000 square foot base in Holborn, where rents are believed to be £55 a square foot, to a smaller new development in King's Cross, where rent is £38 a square foot.

The move is due to take place in 2011.

Britain's third-largest supermarkets chain faces increasing competition from cheaper retailers such as Wm Morrison, which is scheduled to report on its Christmas trading performance on Thursday.