Morrisons directors quit in corporate governance row
Two Morrisons non executive directors have quit, reportedly due to a disagreement over corporate governance at the supermarket.
Neil Davidson, chair of the corporate compliance and responsibility committee, and Tony van Kralingen, remuneration committee chair, have stepped down and will cease to be directors from 26 and 29 April respectively.
The grocer said today that the pair quit “in order to pursue other interests”.
However the Financial Times reported that Davidson and van Kralingen handed in their notice due to an escalating row over corporate governance, particularly the close relationship between chairman Andrew Higginson and chief executive David Potts.
Higginson and Potts both previously worked at Tesco alongside chief operating officer Trevor Strain.
The newspaper reported that van Kralingen and Davidson quit due to the closeness of Morrisons’ top three bosses.
It is expected that Kevin Havelock, a current director of the company and a member of the remuneration committee since February 2018, will replace van Kralingen as remuneration committee chair from 29 April.
The resignations come as Morrisons deals with a surge in demand as customers stockpile and eat more meals at home due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the UK.