Dalton Philips is to exit Morrisons on Monday as the retailer considers a shortlist of four candidates for its new chief executive.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Morrisons said its finance director Trevor Strain would assume Philips’ responsibilities until a new chief executive was appointed. But new chairman Andrew Higginson will also spend more time at the business, confirming industry chatter that the former Tesco executive is taking a hands- on role.
Higginson said: “We’re making good progress with the search for a new chief executive. With Trevor Strain chairing the management board, together with the retailing strength and depth that I’ve seen in my short time at Morrisons, I’m confident that it will be business as usual during this transitional period.”
It is thought that Higginson is only weeks away from being ready to announce the appointment of a successor to Philips, who was sacked last month after a poor Christmas performance.
David Potts, another former Tesco director, is widely thought to be in pole position for the job, as he is close to Higginson. A respected nuts and bolts retail operator, Potts left Tesco in 2012.
One industry insider said: “Higginson knows what he wants to do and needs a guy to execute that.”
Other possible contenders include John Dixon, head of general merchandise at Marks & Spencer, who is credited with turning around its food division; Stuart Machin, an alumni of Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, who is currently managing director of Australian department store group Target; John Durkan, another former Tesco executive currently running Coles in Australia, and Ken McMeikan, a former Sainsbury’s and Tesco executive currently running Brakes Group.
Potential outsiders include Harriet Green, the former boss of Thomas Cook who abruptly quit the tour operator last year despite engineering a turnaround of the business. and Kate Swann, the former WH Smith boss now running franchise group SSP, may also be a possible contender.
Other former Tesco executives including John Browett, now boss of Monsoon, Richard Brasher, now head of Pick n Pay stores in South Africa and Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk are not thought to have ruled themselves out.
