Richard Jones, the key architect of J Sainsbury’s aggressive non-food expansion plans, has suddenly quit to take a top job at rival Tesco.

Mr Jones, appointed director of general merchandise and global sourcing at Sainsbury's in January last year, is understood to have handed in his resignation on Friday evening (June 20). No leaving date has yet been decided but Mr Jones is signed to a 12 month contract.

He joined Sainsbury’s five years ago to oversee the development of the TU clothing brand, which now generates around £300 million in sales a year for the supermarket group

The timing of his departure is a blow for Sainsbury's which hopes to build sales by £3.5 billion over the coming three years, with a third of the additional revenue expected to be generated from an expansion of non-food ranges, including general merchandise, clothing and beauty.

By March 2010, Sainsbury's aims to have 60 stores with more than 15,000 square feet of non-food.

Last week, Justin King, Sainsbury’s chief executive, insisted the group was well placed to weather the tougher economic climate despite reporting the slowest first quarter sales growth of Britain’s big four supermarket chains.

Sainsbury’s also missed out on nearly £1.5 million of sales after suspending its home shopping website for two days following an IT glitch.

A spokeswoman at Sainsbury's, said: "This happens from time to time and we are in an industry where people tend to move around.

“Our strategy for non-food is in place and we are well down the track in rolling out those plans. We have a great non-food senior team in place with key hires from major competitors in recent months."

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