Ex-Tesco executives “likely to be on the target list” to take charge at Morrisons
ALTHOUGH Dalton Philips earned £850,000-a-year as chief executive of Morrisons, before bonuses, finding a replacement may not prove to be straightforward.
It is a hugely-competitive sector, with the Big Four under sustained pressure from the discount retailers, and in addition Morrisons faces a number of problems that will make it even harder for the new boss to return the retailer to its former heights.
Retail analyst David Gray, from Planet Retail, expects new chairman Andrew Higginson to open up his black book, with former Tesco colleagues among the names he will be considering.
“Food retail experience will be crucial,” said Mr Gray. “Ex-Tesco executives are likely to be on the target list considering new chairman Andrew Higginson’s 15-year stint at Tesco. He’s still likely to be in contact with numerous executives from his career.
“The good point about Mr Higginson being chairman is that he’s got strong operational retail experience so could, for a short period, step up to run the business without a chief executive.”
Retail Vision’s John Ibbotson agrees they need to find an experienced food retailer to take over, and believes the incoming chief executive must focus on the company’s traditional strengths.
“They will be looking for someone to take Morrisons back to its roots, to sort it out and make them what they used to be,” he said. “They have lost their price message to Asda and they have got to get that back by – reduce the margins and get more efficient.
“They will be looking for a hard-assed grocery retailer who has worked in the business and knows what they are doing. They need a good marketing person who knows what Morrisons is all about, who will take the decisions to reduce the prices, reduce the margins and get some efficiency out of it.”
Once chosen, the incoming chief executive want to take note of former chairman Sir Ken Morrison’s words of advice for getting the best out of the supermarket chain.
His recipe for success is simple: “You need good staff, you need good suppliers and you need loyal customers. If you can fulfil those three categories with long-term people, you’ve got a winner.”
