Members of Sainsbury’s founding family yesterday sold 1.5m of their shares in the grocer, netting almost £5.3m.

The disposal was made by Judith Portrait, the City lawyer who is responsible for the Sainsbury’s family trust, and led to a fall in the supermarket group’s share price although the family still speaks for almost 4% of the shares.

It is thought that the sale was on behalf of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, set up by Lord Sainsbury of Turville, which supports a number of good causes.