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Stepping inside Sainsbury鈥檚 HQ in Holborn is like entering a corporate version of the supermarket 鈥� the visitor is met with cheery orange signage and the aroma of warm pastries and fresh coffee.

The effect continues with the blue and orange name badges and the here-to-help-you-locate-the-bulgar wheat-in-aisle-17 attitude of the staff 鈥� which even extends to John Rogers, the head of property.

This is appropriate, because like the store staff, Rogers has something to sell: a 拢1.6bn property programme, to be precise. In May, Sainsbury鈥檚 hit the headlines by announcing a plan to accelerate expansion in the recession. The group raised 拢432m from share and bond issues to fund the growth, which will add 15% of selling space by March 2011. The previous target was just 5%.

As head of property, Rogers is responsible for delivering 2.5 million ft2 of floor space, which makes him a useful man to get to know. And not only does he want to continue this rate of expansion beyond 2011, he wants to hear from firms outside Sainsbury鈥檚鈥� 鈥渇lexible鈥� framework, too.

The plan

鈥淧ersuading the Sainsbury鈥檚 board to accelerate our growth plans has been my career highlight,鈥� says Rogers. He鈥檚 not the only one who鈥檚 pleased. The expansion will require the construction industry to deliver more than 50 stores this year and next, as well as 45 store extensions and 150 Sainsbury鈥檚 Local convenience stores.

鈥淥ver 拢1.6bn will go into delivering the growth,鈥� says Rogers, adding that the firm is not just planning a one-off push: 鈥淟ooking ahead from 2011, the aim is to continue what we are doing, maintain momentum and keep up that pace of growth.鈥�

So why go for growth when so many other firms are shrinking into their shells? Rogers says that the plan is driven by what customers want 鈥� a point he repeats throughout the interview. And he has figures to back up his point: the company made a pre-tax profit of 拢543m in the year to March, a growth of 11.3%.

But this is a competitive sector, and while one eye is on the customer, the other is on its market share, which presently stands at about 15%. Sainsbury鈥檚鈥� growth spurt is intended to help it overtake Asda (17%) and close ground on the mighty Tesco (31%). Rogers admits as much: 鈥淭he growth plan will have a big impact on our business. This move puts us somewhere pretty near the top of UK food and retail companies.鈥�

One of Rogers鈥� tasks is to decide where to put all these new stores, a plan he is in the process of executing with the help of his 90-strong property team. 鈥淲e鈥檙e researching the areas where we feel we鈥檙e under-represented,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he team is given a shopping list of every place in the UK where we want to be and we look into each one to work out if it will be possible and, if so, what size and style of store should go there.鈥�

For the period up to 2011, the team has zeroed in on Scotland and the South-west, particularly Cornwall and Devon.

Winning work

Just as there is a shopping list of ideal locations, so too is there for the ideal supply chain. To this end, Sainsbury鈥檚 has a group of preferred contractors, architects and surveyors (see below). But Rogers is quick to reassure firms that are not on the list that they are not locked out: 鈥淲e have a framework but that鈥檚 not to say we don鈥檛 look outside that group. It鈥檚 flexible and under constant review. We tender outside it for about 10% of our projects.鈥�

He adds that the Sainsbury鈥檚鈥� procurement team is always open to approaches: 鈥淲e want to meet new contractors if they think they have something to offer. From a commercial position it would be crazy not to.鈥�

So who makes the grade? Rogers is looking for a construction partner that can offer reliability, innovation and value for money. 鈥淲e also look for transparency in the commercial relationship,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important we develop a real partnership with the people we work with, which means moving into a more open style of business. In the past, things have not been as productive as they could have been because of a lack of transparency.鈥�

Entering into a relationship with a retail giant may cause trepidation. But as far as supermarket scare-stories go, Sainsbury鈥檚 is generally considered a pretty decent client 鈥� it certainly doesn鈥檛 have the fearesome reputation of a certain blue-and-white striped beast. 鈥淪ainsbury鈥檚 is very reliable and stable. This expansion has given us a strong pipeline of work,鈥� says Robert Sargent, retail director at Stride Treglown, one of the architects on the Sainsbury鈥檚 framework.

Surprisingly, Rogers bares his teeth at these words of praise: 鈥淲e do recognise that collaboration is the way to get best results but that鈥檚 not to say we aren鈥檛 ruthless. We will push hard for price reductions year on year,鈥� he says, his expression hardening as his hands chop down on the table. He refuses to be drawn on whether this means cutting fees but does say Sainsbury鈥檚 is dedicated to a Develop for Less programme that aims to spend less year on year on commercial property, something that, according to him, all the group鈥檚 contractors accept: 鈥淲e negotiate with our contractors based on current market conditions.鈥�

Sargent also hints that working for the group is no holiday: 鈥淥bviously at the moment Sainsbury鈥檚 has got some quite demanding expansion plans to grow through the recession. We have had to respond to this by working as quickly as possible and by focusing on leaner construction to cut costs where possible. Costwise, let鈥檚 just say we鈥檙e having to sharpen our pencils at the moment.鈥�

With all this talk of ruthlessness and task mastering, could Sainsbury鈥檚 Jamie Oliver exterior crack to reveal the grim visage of a Gordon Ramsay? Just as it seems it might, Rogers slips back into social democratic mode. 鈥淭hat said, we also listen to feedback from our contractors very carefully. We give them the opportunity to get to know and learn from each other by working in regional teams and make them feel like part of the brand.鈥� Nope. Tough but fair, shrewd but cheerful 鈥� Sainsbury鈥檚 is Jamie all the way.