Morrison comes under pressure

SUPERMARKET boss Ken Morrison is set to come under intense investor pressure this week amid claims he is delaying the modernisation of the group’s board.

The chairman is said to have been unimpressed by candidates interviewed for four new non-executive posts in a bid to make the board more accountable.

According to reports, chances of the appointments being made at the group’s annual meeting on Thursday are slim - leaving the situation at Morrisons “on a knife edge.”

Mr Morrison has come under intense pressure to change the structure of the board after difficulties in seeing through last year’s £3 billion purchase of Safeway.

He has concerned some in the City, particularly through his reluctance to appoint outside directors and by stating no obvious succession plan, even though most of his contemporaries retired long ago.

Shareholder groups are said to be “deeply troubled” by the way the firm is run and want Mr Morrison to step down to the post of non-executive chairman.

A source told the newspaper: “The situation at Morrisons is on a knife edge. Mr Morrison does not seem to understand how near to blowing up things are.”

Deputy chairman David Jones is reportedly running out of patience with the way the firm is run and will resign once a new board is in place, it was claimed.