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Morrisons close to replacing Dalton Philips with ex-Tesco boss

Bradford-based WM Morrisons is rumoured to be close to naming the former head of Tesco’s Asian business as its next chief executive.

The struggling supermarket chain is understood to be in the final stages of selecting a successor to Dalton Philips, who was ousted last month after almost three years of falling sales.

David Potts, who spent 39 years at Tesco, is the frontrunner, according to people close to the situation, although Morrisons’ board is still talking to two other candidates. An announcement is expected in the next fortnight.

The interview process is being led by Andy Higginson, who was parachuted in early as chairman after another slump in Christmas trading. Trevor Strain, the finance chief, is also involved as well as the non-executive directors. Potts was seen meeting one of the non-executives in London last week.

Potts was Tesco’s longest serving director after beginning his career as a shelf stacker in 1973 and rising to become head of its Asian business. He left in 2012, just months after Tesco’s ex-finance director Andy Higginson, who joined Morrisons as chairman in October last year.

When announcing Philips’ resignation last month, Higginson stressed that the board would be looking for someone with good experience and that, given the tough environment, “it was not a job for people with L-plates”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .