Ken Morrison
Encyclopedia
Sir Kenneth Duncan Morrison CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 20 October 1931) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
businessman
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...
, who is the Life President and former chairman of Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
(Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc), the fourth largest supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
group in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Early and private life
He is the youngest child of the late William Murdoch Morrison and Hilda Morrison, who owned a small grocery chain set up in 1899. He was born in BradfordBradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, and was brought up by five elder sisters.
Whilst at Bradford Grammar School
Bradford Grammar School
Bradford Grammar School is a co-educational, independent school in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire. Headmaster, Stephen Davidson is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference . The school was founded in 1548 and granted its Charter by King Charles II in 1662...
, Morrison worked in the family provisions business in the school holidays. He was given jobs such as working on the market stalls or checking eggs against lamps for defects.
Morrison served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
The Royal Army Ordnance Corps was a corps of the British Army. It dealt only with the supply and maintenance of weaponry, munitions and other military equipment until 1965, when it took over most other supply functions, as well as the provision of staff clerks, from the Royal Army Service...
as a National Serviceman, and was demobilised in 1952. His father was seriously ill so Ken was plunged into the management of the business and had to learn very quickly.
Morrison received the CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1990 and was knighted in the 2000 new year’s honours list for services to the food retailing industry. In the Sunday Times Rich List 2007
Sunday Times Rich List 2007
The Sunday Times Rich List 2007 was published on 29 April 2007. The online edition was published on 30 April 2007.Since 1989 the UK national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times has published an annual magazine supplement to the newspaper called the Sunday Times Rich List...
ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK he was placed 35th with an estimated family fortune of £1,595 million. Today, his family retain 15.5% of the company.
Morrison lives on the outskirts of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, in Myton Hall, Myton-upon-Swale, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, with his wife Lynne, and his two youngest children.
Business career
By 1956 he was the Chairman and Managing Director of a small group of shops, the embryo of what was to become a formidable retail presence, a household name throughout the UK and the largest public company headquartered in Yorkshire.Whilst the family business was named after his father, Morrisons' head office "Hilmore House" is named after his mother. The original Hilmore House was located in Thornton Road, but moved to larger premises at Gain Lane as a result of the takeover of Safeway
Safeway (UK)
Safeway was a chain of supermarkets and convenience stores in the United Kingdom. It started as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., before being sold off in 1987....
.
Just after the takeover of Safeway
Safeway (UK)
Safeway was a chain of supermarkets and convenience stores in the United Kingdom. It started as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., before being sold off in 1987....
(completed in 2004), Morrison went from a respected industry figure to a target for disgruntled investors furious at the mishandling of the transaction. In 2001 Morrison described Safeway as an "indigestible meal" for his supermarket group.
Following the Safeway takeover the Morrison group issued five profit warnings, due to integration problems. Morrisons later recovered its financial performance and in September 2006, it announced a £134.2m half year pre-tax profit for the 25 weeks to 23 July 2006. This was a company record, and convinced City commentators that Morrisons had recovered.
As a result, Morrison's reputation is being restored, especially since the "Optimisation Plan" – set out to restore profits – enabled gross profit margins to increase from 0.9% in March 2006, to 2.8% in July 2006. The target was to increase margins by 0.9% by 2009, which is currently being delivered ahead of plan.
Analysts have speculated that the potential market share of the newly enlarged Morrisons has not been realised due to defection of customers from the former Safeway stores to rivals such as Sainsbury's. However, other factors include the mass 254 store divestment programme, which was concluded in 2007, after the 220 Safeway store conversion programme concluded in November 2005.
Morrison was the longest serving chairman of a top 100 public company in the UK. He can still be seen on the shop floor in the familiar short-sleeved shirt, ready for comments from customers.
In June 2006, Ken Morrison announced that he would relinquish executive control of the company, which came into effect from 4 September, making way for the appointment of Dutchman Marc Bolland as chief executive. He announced that it was his current intention to stand down as the chairman and director of the company in January 2008, and take the honorary post of Life President. He eventually stood down on 13 March 2008.
His three eldest children have all worked for the business. His son, also named William, held a position within the Group's Marketing function but left the Company soon after his father stepped down. His daughter Eleanor held the position of Poultry Buyer. His nephew Chris Blundell recently stepped down as one of the directors.