Justin's king of the grocery castle!

Justin King is a Solihull boy made good. There's something about Solihull that creates an enterprising attitude. Maybe it's in the water, although Severn Trent may take some time finding out!

Sainsbury's has had a bumper year. Mr. King says that the company has just had its "best ever Christmas performance", after enjoying strong sales growth in the last three months of 2008. Wow! Does that cheer you up? Even if you don't shop at Sainsbury's it must be good news. The bottom line here is that if you give the customers what they want, they will support the business. That's an age old adage, but it's true.

Mr. King also derided the VAT cut that Alistair Darling thought was so great. One wonders if this benighted chancellor ever consults anybody.

However, when I hear such company results it gets me thinking. When I was in my local Sainsbury's just after Christmas, there was a whole stack of mince pies going cheap. I counted up the boxes, some unopened in their cartons. I reckon there were over 600 boxes that needed to be shifted. So I thought, did the manager overdo it on the pies, or are people round here going off mince pies? I really don't know. I got a box of six for 37p. I freely admit I'm not much use to Sainsbury's as the freezer is full of "cheepos". But at least I'm saving them a part of the costs in removing out-of-date food. These company figures must include the mince pies, surely?