Sainsbury's chairman has been officially reprimanded for using supermarket staff to work on his home in Lewes, East Sussex.
David Tyler also had one of the company's building contractors help on his barn conversion, says The Guardian.
In a letter to Tyler seen by the paper, which was written after he volunteered the information, Sainsbury's handed down a formal warning for "material breaches" of its policy on conflicts of interest.
The case dates back to 2013, when Tyler called out a "member of the supermarket's sustainability team, who had expertise in green energy and engineering", to review plans for an underfloor heating system, reports the Guardian.
He "also arranged for another Sainsbury's employee to carry out 'thermal imaging' – a method of assessing problems with insulation – at the property".
Tyler employed the supermarket chain's building contractor to install an oil-fired boiler for the heating system and contacted two other suppliers for advice on alternative fuel systems, "such as biomass or ground floor heat pumps".
The employees were not paid and provided their advice during work hours. The building contractor provided an action plan for the project for free, but was "paid a market rate" for the work it carried out.
Tyler contacted Sainsbury's company secretary, Tim Fallowfield, after the work was undertaken to arrange to compensate staff for their time, prompting the internal review and the eventual reprimand.
The grocer said Tyler had not benefitted financially and had donated £5,000 to charity, which was "commensurate with the amount of time spent by Sainsbury's staff on the project".
Sainsbury's also concluded the policy breaches were unintentional, despite the fact Tyler led a review into contractor conflict issues in 2012 related to sponsorships held by the son of then chief executive Justin King.
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