A man who grew up in and around Croydon will earn nearly £900,000 after Sainsbury's announced he would be the company's new CEO.

Retail and operations director Simon Roberts - who was born in the borough and attended Purley Sixth Form College - was heavily tipped to fill the outgoing shoes of Mike Coupe, after just two-and-a-half years with the country's second largest grocer.

It was reported in August that Sainsbury's had kicked off its search for a new chief executive as it looked to move on from its failed attempt to merge with Asda last year.

At the time, Mr Roberts was considered one of the best-placed internal candidates alongside Argos boss John Rogers. However, Mr Rogers' decision to jump ship to advertising giant WPP in October may have put the writing on the wall and set his colleague up for the top role.

Commenting on his appointment Mr Roberts said: “Sainsbury’s is a tremendous business, with over 27 million customers a week and market-leading brands across food, general merchandise, clothing and financial services.

"Sainsbury’s is led by a highly experienced and committed management team and I am really excited about working together with our 178,000 colleagues to become one multi brand, multi channel business.

"As we come together, I am feeling hugely energised by what we can do for our customers and our colleagues.

"I firmly believe in our ability to create value for our shareholders as we continue to evolve and adapt this great business for the future.

Retail analysts have said they expect "strategic continuity" under the new boss, although there are suggestions that his leadership style could differ from his two predecessors.

One retail boss said he thinks Mr Roberts is "more comfortable in shops" than Mr Coupe.

Another retail leader hailed his appointment, describing the new boss as "very people-focused" and "passionate about progression and diversity".

Mr Roberts will begin his new role from June 1 this year.

So what does earning the job of Sainsbury's CEO get you?

Well a statement released by the supermarket giants said his base salary on appointment will be £875,000.

His pension benefit will be 7.5% of salary, in line with the pension opportunity offered to the workforce generally and for 2020/21, from appointment, his incentive opportunity "will be in line with Mr Coupe's."