By Saabira Chaudhuri
London--Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) on Tuesday said
five senior executives would step down, as the new chief executive
of the U.K.'s fourth-largest supermarket chain vowed to simplify
its management structure.
"I will now be constructing a leaner management board, with the
aim of simplifying and speeding up the business," said CEO David
Potts.
Morrisons said marketing and digital director Nick Collard,
retail director Martyn Fletcher, property and strategy director
Gordon Mowat, logistics director Neal Austin and convenience
managing director Nigel Robertson are leaving. The company has
named Andy Atkinson and Clare Grainger as interim marketing and
retail director respectively.
Earlier this month, the Bradford, England-based retailer took a
huge property write-down, reporting a large loss for the fiscal
year, while Morrisons also said it would close 23 convenience
stores, and "significantly" slow the rollout of more. The departure
of Mr. Mowat and Mr. Robertson means that Morrisons board won't
house executives in the areas of property and convenience.
Mr. Potts only started at Morrisons on March 16, replacing
Dalton Philips who left in February. The new CEO caught investors'
attention last week when, on his first day at work, he uploaded a
video of himself to YouTube saying he wanted to "listen as hard as
I possibly can to as many of our customers as I can."
Mr. Potts has been in grocery retailing for over 40 years,
starting at Tesco in 1973 on the shop floor, rising to become
retail director in the U.K. and chief executive of its Irish
businesses.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
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