Morrisons has revealed Andrew Higginson will success Sir Ian Gibson as chairman next year. Retail Week takes a look at what the analysts say.

Morrisons has revealed Andrew Higginson will success Sir Ian Gibson as chairman next year.

“Appointing Andrew Higginson seems like a bright idea – Morrisons has been in turmoil, essentially issuing a profit warning a year in advance as it seeks to rebase the business. In terms of steadying the ship, Higginson has a track record as one of the leaders of Britain’s biggest grocery retailers during its halcyon days. The problem is that shoppers’ needs and expectations have changed.

“Therefore, what made the big grocers successful in the past won’t work anymore – new entrants have undermined the already confusing price claims and shopping behaviour is evolving away from selecting from a massive choice of products in the weekly supermarket and monthly out of town shopping trip.

“Shoppers’ expectations of brands that want to take such a large percentage of weekly expenditure have been transformed by other retail and non-retail brands that offer exceptional customer service. Morrisons will need much more than a high profile appointment from a competitor with many of the same challenges meeting today’s and tomorrow’s shopper needs” – Matt Woodhams, director of brand consultancy Added Value

“Having been passed over by Tesco for Philip Clark this Morrisons appointment does give Andrew Higginson an opportunity to prove himself with a big four retailer, although it is probably his experience with Poundland that Morrisons will value more to address the current market situation. As incoming chairman he faces many problems, as does incoming chief executive at Tesco Dave Lewis.

“Morrisons and Tesco have been the hardest hit of the big four retailers by structural changes in the market and the rise of discount retailers. Until this year, Morrisons had little or no convenience or online strategy to speak of and continued declines have shown that the retailer is some distance away from turning a corner” – Jon Copestake, Retail Analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit

“Andy Higginson doesn’t join the board of struggling Morrison’s until October 1, so the embattled chief executive Dalton Philips can sleep easy for a couple more months, but after that the pressure will be on and it will be interesting to see how long he lasts” – Nick Bubb, independent analyst

“Higginson was part of the high-powered team that delivered so much success for shareholders, employees and shoppers when he was at Tesco, where he was chief finance officer, head of strategy and more latterly responsible for retailing services under Sir Terry Leahy. To our minds, Higginson brings a wealth of experience and talent to – what has to be said – has been a troubled group in Morrisons. Morrisons’s like-for-like sales have been heavily negative for some time, with penal market share loses” – Clive Black, Shore Capital