Nicki Perrott has been appointed as the new head of procurement at Sainsbury’s following the departure of David Brooks, who has left to join the finance arm of the business.

Perrott whose previous role was as head of construction and FM procurement at Sainsbury’s has previously worked in buying roles for Masterfoods, United Biscuits and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

David Brooks stepped into his new role as head of finance operations during September. During his three years as procurement head, he helped initiate a transformation project that lifted the buying team’s ranking to “world class”, in the Hackett Group’s independent benchmark published in June.Speaking after the rating, Perrott told and industry magazine: “If you can show the team the progress you’re making and keep them excited, you’ve got a much better chance of retaining them.”

The supermarket giant went from being classed as an “efficient” organisation two years ago to one that is now both efficient and effective, without assistance from external consultants. It has also saved millions of pounds.