Sir David Scholey to Stand Down from the Board

Sainsbury(J) PLC
8 December 1999


J Sainsbury plc - Sir David Scholey

Following his recent appointments as Chairman of Close Brothers and as Deputy
Chairman of Anglo American plc, Sir David Scholey has decided to stand-down
from the Board of J Sainsbury plc in the early part of next year.

While regretting his decision to leave our Board after four years, we fully
appreciate his need to revise his commitments in light of these new
appointments. We are pleased that Sir David will continue on our Board until
we have identified a replacement.

In the meantime, the Board will continue to have the benefit of Sir David's
judgement and experience and his support for our recovery strategy and the
actions we are taking to improve the business.