Five Morrisons execs leave as Potts swings axe
Five members of Morrisons' management team are on the way out, after new boss David Potts swung his axe.
Group customer marketing and digital director Nick Collard, group retail director Martyn Fletcher, group property and strategy director Gordon Mowat, group logistics director Neal Austin and convenience managing director Nigel Robertson are all leaving.
"I will now be constructing a leaner management board, with the aim of simplifying and speeding up the business," Potts said.
Potts was named as as the supermarket's new chief executive last month in what's part of a fresh start for the company: chairman Andrew Higginson, also an ex-Tesco executive, only took over from Sir Ian Gibson last month.
Potts was Tesco’s longest serving director, after he began his career as a shelf stacker in 1973, rising to become head of its Asian business. His appointment ended the search which had been ongoing since January after chief executive Dalton Philips resigned.
The supermarket has, like its peers, suffered amid the rise of German discounters Aldi and Lidl. Morrisons’ like-for-like sales were down 3.1 per cent over Christmas as it failed to stop customers defecting to its discount rivals.