Yes, if you’re a UK colleague with at least 12 months’ continuous service. You will receive an invitation from MUFG Corporate Markets with instructions on how to apply.

You can contribute any amount between £8 and £150 per month or between £8 and £138 per four-weekly pay period (or up to 10% of your pre-tax pay, if this is lower), up to a maximum of £1,800 per year. Your contribution must be a multiple of £1.

Although your contributions are taken before tax, which means there are tax benefits to the SSPP, it’s not a salary sacrifice scheme. Please take impartial advice before joining the SSPP if you believe that this may affect your personal circumstances.

By joining the SSPP, the amount of national insurance (NI) you pay may be less, as your shares are bought from your salary before any tax is taken. This means that your entitlement to statutory benefits (such as maternity pay, neonatal care pay, social security benefits and statutory sick pay) may be affected if your NI contributions are too low. For more information, the leaflet IR177 is available from the HMRC website www.hmrc.gov.uk or your local tax office.

You can make a change or stop your contributions at any time through your online account by visiting oursainsburys.co.uk/shares. Any changes will be effective from the next available payroll and will be shown on your payslip. If you don’t make a contribution, you won’t be able to pay it in later, so no shares will be bought for you in that period.

Once your application has been processed, your first deduction will be taken from your pay. This is likely to be the first or second payslip following your application, depending on the date you applied. If your SSPP deduction hasn't been taken from the second payslip after you’ve applied, please contact MUFG Corporate Markets.

You can sell your shares easily online via oursainsburys.co.uk/shares. Just click on ‘’Sell or Transfer Shares’ and follow the on-screen instructions. Once you submit an instruction to sell, you’ll receive an email confirming the sale. Alternatively, you can contact MUFG Corporate Markets for further information.

You can sell your shares at any time, provided you haven’t been told that you can’t deal in shares during a specific period (see FAQ I have been told that I am not allowed to deal in Sainsbury’s shares. What does this mean for SSPP?).

If you want to get the full tax benefit from the SSPP, you need to keep your shares in the SSPP for five years after you’ve bought them. If you sell or transfer your shares within five years of purchase, you may have to pay Income Tax and NI. The tax benefits relate to how long you’ve held each share, rather than how long since you joined the SSPP overall. This means that when you buy a share, it’s three or five years from that date that different tax benefits start. This table explains how this is worked out:

If you sell your shares, any amounts that are not subject to Income Tax or NI will go to your bank account details you provided in oursainsburys.co.uk/shares within five working days. If you do have to pay Income Tax and NI, the proceeds from the sale of shares will be returned to you through Payroll.

You can transfer shares to a share certificate, however you may have to pay Income Tax and NI if your shares have been held for less than five years. Keeping your shares in the SSPP also means that you will be sheltered from possible Capital Gains Tax. More information on this, including details of any fees, are available by contacting MUFG Corporate Markets.  

If you’d like to transfer your shares to somebody else, you must first transfer the shares into your own name and wait to receive your share certificate. You’ll then need to complete a Stock Transfer Form and return it with your share certificate to the Company’s Registrars, MUFG Corporate Markets. The Stock Transfer Form and details of any related fees can be found at https://www.mpms.mufg.com/en/for-individuals/uk/shareholders/corporate-sponsored-nominee-csn/forms/ 

When Sainsbury’s pays a dividend to its shareholders, you’ll receive it too (usually twice per year). You’ll be paid any dividend in cash and it’ll be paid direct to your salary bank account. After each dividend payment, MUFG Corporate Markets will let you know by email or letter that your dividend information is available to view online. As long as dividends received do not exceed the current Dividend Allowance, you will not have to pay tax. The Dividend Tax allowance for the 2025/26 tax year is £500 (please visit www.gov.uk/tax-on-dividends for the most up to date Dividend Tax allowances are these may be subject to change). You should consult a qualified independent financial advisor if you would like advice on the dividend threshold, or advice on your individual tax position.

MUFG Corporate Markets will issue a statement every year in April. You can also go online to oursainsburys.co.uk/shares at any time to see your shares.

Dividends are currently paid in cash.

Yes, you can but removing shares from the SSPP could mean Capital Gains Tax would need to be paid. If you’re unsure, please seek independent financial advice. 

If you leave, you’ll get a letter to tell you what choices you can make. You then have 30 days from the date MUFG Corporate Markets issue your leaver letter to make a decision. If you don’t respond within 30 days, MUFG Corporate Markets will sell enough shares to cover any Income Tax or NI you owe and any remaining shares will be transferred into your name and you will receive a share certificate. Your shares must come out of the Trust (please see information on the Trust at the bottom of this page), but what happens to your shares depends on the circumstances in which you leave and how long you’ve had them for.

If you leave due to redundancy, retirement, TUPE transfer or through a capability dismissal following a period of long-term absence, you won’t have to pay any Income Tax or NI on any of your shares, even if you’ve held them for less than five years. All the shares will be transferred out of the Trust to you. You will receive a share certificate if you do not choose to transfer to the CSN or sold on release.

If you’re dismissed or you resign, you can withdraw (take your shares out of the Trust) or sell the shares you have bought. If your shares are:

Shares you’ve already purchased through the SSPP will be unaffected by your leave.

If you’re receiving enough pay to cover your chosen contribution and this doesn’t exceed 10% of your pre-tax pay, your payments will continue to be taken as normal and used to buy shares unless you instruct MUFG Corporate Markets to stop your deductions.

If you don’t receive enough pay, your contribution will automatically stop and will automatically restart once you’re in receipt of enough pay. You won’t be able to make your own payments when your pay stops.

You can stop, start or change your deductions at any time via the ‘Manage Contributions’ section under the SSPP tile at oursainsburys.co.uk/shares, then select ‘Manage contributions’ and follow the onscreen instructions

If you’ve been told that you cannot deal in shares, you won’t be able to make any changes to your SSPP until the restriction has ended. Your SSPP can continue with your regular share purchase, but you won’t be able to stop or amend your contribution amount or sell any of the shares you hold. If you don’t already have an SSPP, you will not be able to join until the restriction has ended. Search for 'Share Dealing Policy' on Ask HR for details.