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The CEO of Sainsbury’s and one of it’s largest shareholders, Mike Coupe, was recorded singing ‘We’re in the Money’ while waiting for an interview on ITV about his firm’s merger with Asda.
This came just hours after he refused to give reassurance that jobs were not under threat during a BBC Breakfast interview.
A spokesman for Sainsbury’s defended Coupe, saying: “We all know these songs stay in your head. To attach any wider meaning to this innocent, personal moment is preposterous”.
The interviews came after the £13bn merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda was announced yesterday, the company stands to make £500m in profit from the transaction according to Coupe.
Coupe was caught singing the lyrics: “We’re in the money, the sky is sunny. Let’s lend it, spend it, send it rolling along”.
He later said: “This was an unguarded moment trying to compose myself before a TV interview. It was an unfortunate choice of song, from the musical ‘42nd Street’ which I saw last year and I apologise if I have offended anyone.”
Retail Sector asked a Sainsbury’s spokesperson to confirm whether any jobs would be lost, but at the time of writing had not received a formal response.
