David Parkin sees the future with Morrisons and monocles

THE only surprise about the announcement of Dalton Philips’ departure as chief executive of Morrisons this week was that it took so long.
It is difficult to find anything positive to say about this most moribund member of Britain’s so-called ‘Big Four’ supermarkets.
The City clearly shares that view because its share price, which has been on the slide for 18 months – it was 300p in 2013 – rose 11p in the first hour of trading after the announcement that the CEO was leaving.
At least both Morrisons and Dalton Philips didn’t try and fudge the reasons for his departure. Andrew Higginson, the former Tesco finance director who will takeover as chairman from Sir Ian Gibson this month, needed to make a decisive statement and they don’t come more decisive than firing the CEO.
There was none of this “mutual decision” nonsense. It was a straight firing. After five years, Dalton didn’t want to go, he admitted that himself and says he has no other job lined up.
What is interesting is that Morrisons, when it announced the appointment of Higginson last July, said he would take over as chairman when Sir Ian retired in 2015.
Higginson, who has been deputy chairman and chairman elect of the Bradford-based retailer for the last six months, has clearly seen enough already to put Dalton Philips in a shopping trolley and give it a big push towards the bottle bank at the end of the car park.
And Sir Ian will go after the board meeting next Thursday when Higginson will take over his job.
For a major business to lose its chairman and chief executive at a similar time might be destabilising, but in Morrisons’ case it is the clean sweep that shareholders will hope will help to revive its fortunes.
Gibson has been chairman for eight years so has to take responsibility for appointing Philips five years ago and backing his strategies and initiatives – which ultimately haven’t worked.
What we know is that Morrisons’ new chairman is decisive, strong and has his own plans for the future.
What he needs to find now is a CEO that can deliver them.
While we all know the challenges to the major supermarkets from their discount rivals like Aldi and Lidl, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any shortage of candidates that want to replace Philips.
Running big businesses is a bit like football management, however tough the job looks, everyone thinks they can do it.
And a bit like football management, if you ultimately fail then you get a decent pay off anyway.
Announcing the news of the CEO’s departure, Andrew Higginson thanked Dalton Philips for his efforts and added: “He deserves particular credit for facing into and dealing with the pricing issues that have now become evident, for taking the business into the convenience and online channels, and for the steps he has taken to modernise the company’s operating systems.”
I’m sure its systems are now more modern but convenience and online? Do me a favour.
It bought online nursery retailer Kiddicare for about £70m in 2011 as part of its strategy to move into internet sales.
Three years later it virtually gave the business away for £2m to Yorkshire-based private equity firm Endless which sold it 10 weeks later to Worldstores for an undisclosed amount which was estimated to be several times what it had paid for Kiddicare.
That alone was poor, but convenience stores? Morrisons’ M Local chain has come late to the convenience store party – all its big rivals already have chains of smaller stores and other players like the Co-operative, Spar, Nisa and Costcutter have upped their game considerably in recent years.
Faced with shopping at an M Local, I’d drive a couple of miles further to find an alternative.
And this is from someone who used to be a dyed in the wool Morrisons shopper. I used to enjoy shopping there and choose it ahead of rivals whose stores were closer to home.
I was lucky to once get a tour of Morrisons’ store in Thornton Road in Bradford with Sir Ken Morrison. That gave a unique insight into the mind of a master grocery retailer.
He gave the impression that there was a clear reason why every item was on every shelf.
Now the poor choice and lack of quality of some of the fresh food coupled with the decision at some of its stores to display wine by price rather than by colour and country means I’m no longer fiddling to find a pound coin to release a trolley outside Morrisons.
The focus on price, quality and value used to mean Morrisons was the choice of many across the social spectrum for their weekly shop.
Now those shoppers have left loyalty behind and become promiscuous when it comes to buying their baskets of groceries.
While Sir Ken is a legend in grocery retailing, let’s not eulogise too much. His decision to ignore convenience and online meant that Philips – who arrived after Dutchman Mark Bolland decided to do a bunk for Marks & Spencer – had to respond to the deafening calls for Morrisons to get involved in these other retail “channels”.
The trouble was it had to be done quickly and that costs money. Do it wrong and you count the cost for years.
Now someone else has the problem of how to sort it.
Their one comfort might be that all the other Big Four are in the same boat.
Dave Lewis, the relatively new chief executive of Tesco, is showing signs that he is getting a grip of Britain’s biggest supermarket chain but time will tell.
Andy Clarke at Asda has warned that the business, and the sector, faces another tough year ahead. Is he getting his excuses in early?
Clarke is right though, 2015 is going to be another challenging year for British supermarkets.
But is there a magic formula to help return at least one or two of them to major growth?
That looks a pretty bleak prospect at present.
But let’s not forget the talent that has emerged from the supermarkets sector. There are former Asda executives involved in retail enterprises across the globe.
I wouldn’t bet against the supermarkets getting it right again. But it will take hard work and serious talent.
Let’s hope they can find a diamond within. 
It’s worth a rummage at the bottom of the freezer cabinet.
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THE return of the monocle is nigh.
I don’t think it ever went away because it was never there in the first place.
But some entrepreneurs from the haut couture capital of Hull, Paul Gibson and Chris Birkett, whose successful Fan Frames business produces sunglasses and spectacle frames in football club branding and colours, have formed Monocle Madness with Gadget Shop founder Jonathan Elvidge. 

Apparently their business is “unique to the UK” and was launched after Elvidge couldn’t find anywhere to buy a monocle.

Should we tell him there is a reason for that – no one wants to buy them.

“We’re planning to put the monocle back into mainstream fashion,” Birkett said.

Nice gimmick lads, but stick to your day jobs. I’m a fan of Terry-Thomas and while I might wear a Savile Row three-piece in homage to the great comedian I have never been tempted to don a monocle.
I won’t say this new venture looks a bit one-eyed because I feel my humour is more sophisticated than that.

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