FORMER newsreaderAnna Ford was forced to defend her role at Sainsbury's yesterday after shareholders questioned her appointment as a director of the chain. The 62-year-old was named as a non-executive board member in May and charged with helping to improve the retailer's image on environmental and social issues. Ford, pictured, had stopped presenting the One O'Clock News a week earlier. She previously worked on ITN and helped set up Breakfast TV. At the company's annual meeting, Ford was heckled by one shareholder and questioned by other investors over whether she was qualified to deal with issues facing the firm. One shareholder accused her of being "yesterday's news", while another suggested the role was secured because of "not what you know, but who you know". Ford, who will earn GBP45,000 a year in the part-time job, defended her role at the supermarket chain and highlighted experience
dealing with the public and companies across the globe. She said: "People think when you read the news and come into their homes every day that they know you. I've also done the family shopping every week for years, I know what it is like to be a customer. Nonexecutive directors are here to be independent and I was a bugbear at the BBC for my independence of mind. "I've got more energy now than I have ever had before. I am interested in this company and I will give it an enormous amount of my energy."-PA
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