About

Team size: 28
Major law firms used: Addleshaw Goddard, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, Dentons, Linklaters

Nick Grant stands among the veterans of the in-house community, acting as Sainsbury’s head of legal since 2006. His career there goes back even further, as he joined as a commercial lawyer in 1999. Prior to that was a three-year stint as a barrister at planning and environment specialist Francis Taylor Building.

Grant has certainly made his mark on Sainsbury’s in-house function, particularly with his pioneering attitude towards external counsel. In 2011, he set up Sainsbury’s Legal Community, which involves multiple firms collaborating to provide advice. The change allowed the in-house team to present its objectives more openly and let firms that are stronger in certain areas collaborate to produce better advice.

He has also presided over a key panel review in 2017, where 11 firms were appointed, including Addleshaw Goddard, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, Dentons and Linklaters. Grant said at the time that the firms were selected based on their ability to support Sainsbury’s in all its jurisdictions, including its new presence in the Republic of Ireland thanks to its acquisition of Argos.

No doubt high on Grant and his legal team’s priorities in 2018 was the proposed landmark merger between Sainsbury’s and rival supermarket Asda, and the entailing regulatory issues. As the GC Powerlist went to press in February, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had expressed concern over the proposed merger, warning it could lead to a poorer shopping experience for the consumer, and said it could block the deal. Sainsbury’s and Asda will have a chance to respond to the CMA’s findings before a final decision is published on 30 April.

With the retail market set for further disruption with Brexit just around the corner, the experience Grant has will prove invaluable for Sainsbury’s going forward. Iain Fenn, corporate partner at Linklaters, says: ‘Nick is an excellent in-house leader. He is a pleasure to work with as he is able to identify key legal issues in business situations quickly and finds solutions with the minimum of fuss.’