After months of indecision and highly publicised boardroom battles, Sir Ken Morrison, chairman of Morrisons, has finalised the corporate governance structure of the supermarket group.
This follows the decision of CEO Bob Stott to leave the supermarket group next year.
In the past six months, Sir Ken has appointed four non-executive directors - Nigel Robertson, Brian Flanagan, Susan Murray and Paul Manduca.
Manduca, a fund management veteran who
joined Morrisons last month, replaces David Jones, Morrisons’ deputy chairman, as chairman of the group’s audit committee.
Jones will also step down from his position as chairman of the remuneration committee and will be replaced by Susan Murray. He will now concentrate on the deputy chairman’s role and be on both committees.
The scaling back of Jones’ responsibilities at Morrisons follows the announcement this week that he was stepping down as chairman of Next in May 2006 after 20 years with the clothes retailer.
However, Jones said his exit from Next did not mean that an exit from Morrisons would follow. “I have a job to do and I intend to do that job. Then I will reassess the situation,” he said.
Morrisons has been under increasing pressure from investors to finalise its corporate governance structure.
<<p9 First loss for Morrisons
RHM has appointed Erhard Schoewel as a non-executive director with immediate effect. Schoewel, who is executive vice president Europe of Reckitt Benckiser, will join RHM’s audit and nominations committees and chair the RHM remuneration committee.

Australian producer Cumulus Wines has appointed Jeffrey Wilkinson as CEO. Wilkinson was formerly president of Southcorp Wines Europe.
In his new role, he will focus on widening distribution and sales of the company’s products. He will be based in Sydney, Australia.
The group has also appointed Keith Lambert as chairman and Philip Shaw as MD for winemaking and production.
Helen Ghosh has been appointed permanent secretary of Defra, replacing Brian Bender, who has become DTI permanent secretary.
Beth Brooks

Schoewel for RHM
cumulus Names trio
defra appointment

Topics