 Sir Ken has faced increasing pressure |
Supermarket chain Morrisons has appointed three non-executive directors to its board, after pressure from investors for more accountability. The firm said it would also appoint another non-executive director within the next four weeks.
Chairman Sir Ken Morrison, 73, has faced increasing criticism with the company having issued five profit warnings since buying Safeway in 2004.
On 8 June, it forecast annual profits of �50m-150m - well below expectations.
Analysts had been expecting profits of between �225m and �275m.
In May, Sir Ken was re-elected as chairman at the Bradford-based company's annual general meeting, but about 10% of investors rebelled. Before the AGM, Morrisons said Sir Ken was to step back from day-to-day decision making at the company.
'Further candidates'
The new non-executive directors are Brian Flanagan, who worked for Mars for 26 years, Susan Murray, a former chief executive of Littlewoods Stores, and Nigel Robertson, who helped establish Ocado - an internet-based grocery shopping operation in partnership with John Lewis's Waitrose.
 | MORRISONS FACTS Formed by William Morrison, Sir Ken's father in 1899 Established and still based in Bradford Sir Ken takes the helm in 1956 Goes public in 1967 Sir Ken relinquishes MD role in 1997 Joins FTSE 100 in 2001 |
The new appointments will come into place on 1 July, and Morrisons said: "The chairman and deputy chairman will together be interviewing further candidates for non-executive directorships.
"It is anticipated that a further announcement will be made with the next four weeks."
Sir Ken had said he would appoint some non-executives after the �3bn takeover of Safeway, in order to comply with corporate governance guidelines.
Consumer mix
Morrisons' takeover of Safeway has proved to be a lot more difficult, expensive and time consuming than it first envisaged.
However, it remains confident about future prospects for the business when all Safeway stores have been converted.
"Unfortunately when they took over Safeway there was a different mix of consumer, which did not like the large, cheap, approach of Morrisons," said Jeremy Baker, an expert in marketing at London Metropolitan University.
"There has been a tremendous churn in consumers. However, some people seem to like their new converted Morrisons stores.
"These appointments could be a turning point for Morrisons."
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These appointments could be a turning point for Morrisons
