According to a report in the Sunday Times, Morrisons will name Marc Bolland chief executive of the UK’s number four supermarket chain. The announcement will be made later this week, the paper said without citing sources.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Morrisons told just-food that, until a formal decision had been made, it was unable to comment. However, the spokesperson suggested that an announcement could be imminent, as at the AGM a deadline of between two and three weeks was set.
It is widely hoped that a final appointment will bring to an end a dispute about who will succeed Bob Scott, long-standing ally of Sir Ken Morrison, as CEO. Leaked reports of boardroom quarrels suggest that Sir Ken has been slow to settle on a candidate, favouring an internal nominee.
The selection of Bolland, currently COO at Heineken, has provoked further discord on the Morrisons board, the Mail on Sunday reported, with Sir Ken purportedly clashing with senior non-executive director David Jones. Sir Ken has said that he will step-down as chairman in 2008, but there are those on the board who would favour an earlier departure.
