Justin King, the former boss of Sainsbury’s, is expected to be confirmed as part of team backing the revival of the Manor Marussia Formula One team.
Racing industry insiders said motor racing fan King, whose son Jordan is a Formula Two driver, would not have an executive role at Marussia, which is aiming to take part in the season-opening Australian grand prix on 15 March.
The team, which began as Virgin Racing, pulled out of the last three races of the 2014 season after getting into financial difficulties.
Eight months after leaving the supermarket group, King, who had been tipped to replace Bernie Ecclestone as the head of Formula One, is still looking for a major new role.
King recently also joined the chicken processing firm 2 Sisters as an adviser, in his first confirmed role since leaving the supermarket.
The part-time, temporary role at one of the biggest suppliers to British supermarkets will involve helping 2 Sisters chief executive and controlling shareholder Ranjit Singh map out a future for the group.
King is credited with turning around the fortunes of Sainsbury’s, where he spent 10 years before leaving just as a long stint of sales growth came to an end.
A 2 Sisters spokesman said: “Justin knows our business well from his time at Marks & Spencer and more recently at Sainsbury’s, and we look forward to working with him and drawing from his considerable knowledge and expertise.”
The food group, which owns Fox’s biscuits, pizza brand Goodfella’s and Holland’s Pies, was one of two chicken processors at which a Guardian investigation last summer uncovered a series of hygiene failings.
Breakdowns in machinery led to high-risk material such as feathers, guts and offal piling up while production continued at a 2 Sisters factory in Wales.
King takes up his role, first reported by Sky News, as the whole poultry industry comes under scrutiny for the prevalence of the potentially lethal food poisoning bug campylobacter in supermarket chicken.
A report by the food industry watchdog published earlier this week found nearly three-quarters of chickens sold in supermarkets were contaminated with the bug, 19% at a high level.
The 2 Sisters group is among several suppliers seeking new ways to tackle the bug. It put rapid-chilling technology in place at several of its facilities in September as part of a five-point plan.