Coupe began his career at Unilever and became assistant brand manager for Flora margarine. Coupe joined Sainsbury's in 2004. In 2010, Coupe became responsible for the marketing, trading and online operations of the company. In 2014, he was appointed CEO of the company. Soon after his appointment he announced a strategic review that aimed to address the challenges caused by a changing retail market. In 2016 he led the takeover of Home Retail Group which included Argos and Habitat. In March 2018 he announced new pay arrangements for colleagues. More recently, Coupe has overseen digital transformation and investment at Sainsbury’s, including the introduction of the UK’s till-free stores and the digitisation of Nectar through a new app and website. On 22 January 2020 it was announced that Coupe would retire from his position at the end of May 2020 to be succeeded by Simon Roberts, the company's head of retail and operations.
Personal life
He married Jill Parkinson in Richmond upon Thames in May 1990, and they have two daughters. In recent years he has lived in the Holgate area of York but he frequently moves between London and Yorkshire. He is a keen guitarist and also enjoys photography and cycling. Coupe became a life patron for GroceryAid in August 2015. He was previously the fundraising president from 2012 to 2014.
Controversies
In April 2018, Coupe engaged in an interview in relation to a forthcoming merger between Sainsbury's and Walmart owned UK subsidiary Asda. After the first interview occurred, during the transition to the next, his microphone remained switched on and he began singing 'We're in the Money'. The video was widely shared and critiqued. Coupe later released a statement apologising for his "unfortunate choice of song, from the musical 42nd Street", which he had seen the previous year. Sainsbury's issued a further statement: "We all know these songs stay in your head. To attach any wider meaning to this innocent, personal moment is preposterous." When the merger failed to get approvals, he accused the Competition and Markets Authority of having "fundamentally moved the goalposts... changed the shape of the ball and chosen a completely different playing field" in its analysis. He said that with "a completely unpredictable set of competition rules, who would invest in this country?", telling BBC Radio 4: "This is just outrageous." In 2019 he was criticised for reducing the amount traditionally paid towards a Christmas party for Argos colleagues, when he sought to bring it in line with money paid towards the Sainsbury’s Christmas party.
