Andy Higginson, the incoming chairman of Morrisons, says he won’t be phoning former colleague and Tesco chief executive Phil Clarke in his hunt for a replacement for chief executive Dalton Philips. But who will be on his list?
“It’s not a job for people with L-plates,” Higginson said. So perhaps his first call will be to Jim McCarthy, the well-regarded boss of Poundland who was previously head of the Sainsbury’s Local chain. He was also in charge of T&S Stores – the enormous convenience store business which was bought by Tesco back in 2002. Higginson knows McCarthy well from his days as chairman of Poundland, which they brought to the stock market together. It’s questionable whether McCarthy could be persuaded to give up his rather cushy job rolling out Poundland to take on the tricky task of reviving the UK’s fourth largest supermarket. But it’s a much bigger business and a meaty challenge, which might tempt the savvy retailer.
Higginson made clear that Morrisons doesn’t need a radical change of strategy, but could benefit from improvements in the nitty-gritty of the way it trades, in order to tempt in more shoppers and get them to spend more.
Former Tesco colleagues such as Ken McMeikan, now chief executive of Brakes Group, Richard Brasher, currently running South Africa’s Pick n Pay, John Browett, currently at fashion chain Monsoon, or Roger Whiteside, who’s now running bakery chain Greggs, all have a decent track record and might deserve a call. Industry watchers also think John Durkan, another former Tesco executive currently running Coles in Australia, should be on Higginson’s list while his boss Ian McLeod, who previously worked at Asda and led Halfords, has previously been tipped for the Morrisons job. Former Asda executive Judith McKenna might also fancy a return to her northern homeland, but is thought to be happy in the US with Walmart.
But if Higginson really wants a retail operator with a strong track record, who better than Kate Swann? The former WH Smith boss is having fun with the international expansion of travel concession business SSP, but has amply demonstrated her skills at running a business on tight margins in a tough market. Darren Blackhurst, currently running B&Q, is also a well regarded retail operator.
Higginson said he was prepared to cast the net widely and while he wanted someone with experience, it wouldn’t necessarily have to be in retail. So a possible left-field candidate could be Harriet Green, the hard-working former boss of Thomas Cook who abruptly quit the tour operator last year despite engineering a turnaround of the business.
