morrisons trolleys

A second tranche of Morrisons store managers are facing disciplinary action over the underperformance of their stores and could be set to leave the retailer.

The Grocer understands there are fewer than 20 store managers affected by the current action, which follows a similar process that took place earlier this year. It takes the total staff affected to about 40.

Some store managers, who chose not to enter the performance management process, have already left the business and have had their notice period paid along with a compensatory payment. “We are speaking to a small number of store managers about their performance and it’s possible that some may leave our company,” said a Morrisons spokesman.

The departures are not redundancies, and it is understood the retailer will look to fill the roles of those leaving.

The moves are the latest tactic from CEO David Potts and group retail director Gary Mills in their bid to turn around the core business.

It is understood that Mills, the former Tesco Northern Ireland boss who joined Morrisons in July, is now focusing on store-level management after completing a restructure of Morrisons regional management in February. As part of that process, Vicky Reay, formerly of Costcutter, Spar and Aldi, became Morrisons operations director for the South East region, the first female boss of one its store regions. John McAlpine joined from Tesco as operations director for the North. In total, Morrisons made 15 new appointments.