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Reuters
Former Sainsbury’s grocery store chief government Mike Coupe is to take over as director of Covid-19 testing at England’s Check and Hint company.
He brings big expertise in working provide chains and logistics, stated the Division for Well being and Social Care.
However Labour shadow well being secretary Jon Ashworth stated it will make extra sense to place “these educated in precise infectious illness management in cost”.
Mr Coupe, who left Sainsbury’s in Might, replaces Sarah-Jane Marsh.
Earlier this month she issued a “heartfelt” apology for problems with the coronavirus testing system. She blamed delays in laboratory processing.
At Check and Hint, Mr Coupe can be becoming a member of different former retail executives. The pinnacle of the service, Dido Harding, labored at Tesco and Sainsbury’s earlier than spending seven years as boss of TalkTalk.
A former head of HR at Sainsbury’s is at check and hint, as is a former digital director of Waitrose.
In a tweet about Mr Coupe’s appointment, first reported within the Well being Service Journal, Mr Ashworth stated: “How about placing these educated in precise infectious illness management in command of Check & Hint?
“Native public well being groups ought to be main contact tracing.”
Mr Coupe has greater than 35 years expertise within the retail sector, and led Sainsbury’s house supply enlargement and drive for on-line gross sales.
Nonetheless, he’s additionally remembered for a failed try to take over rival Asda after the deal was blocked by the competitors. Earlier than that there was a notable company gaffe.
When the proposed Asda takeover was introduced in Might 2018 he was caught on digital camera singing “We’re within the Cash”. He apologised, saying he had been attempting to compose himself earlier than a tv interview.
Mr Coupe will work with Ms Marsh in a hand-over function for a few month, after which she is going to return to her job as head of Birmingham Ladies’s and Youngsters’s NHS Basis Belief.
