Sir Ken Takes A Bow After Propelling Morrisons To New Heights
Sir Ken Morrison, chairman of the supermarket 'Morrisons', which is at present the 4th largest chain in the UK, retired after a 55 year long association with the company even as it posted a plump 66% increase in its annual profits. Around 40 retail stockbrokers gathered around Sir Ken Morrison, clapped and gave him a one-minute standing ovation.
Ken Morrison started off by selling eggs and butter with his dad and started his first supermarket in 1958 in Bradford. His company entered the FTSE 100 in 2001 and he has now retired after posting a 612 million pound pre-tax profit over sales of 13 billion pounds. Along with his other family members, Sir Ken Morrison has a 15% stake in Morrisons, which is the largest stake in the company, and even though he did not monitor the day-to-day running of the company since 2005, he had still remained its chairman. So, Sir Ken now hangs up his boots after describing his stint at the helm of the company as the end of a long journey and handed over the reins of his growing baby to Sir Ian Gibson, who has been promoted from deputy chairman to non executive chairman. Sir Ken will now be the honorary president of Morrisons. As a parting gift to his investors, Sir Ken said that he planned to give back 1 billion pounds back to them in a span of 2 years by buying back its shares from them.
The company's debt had reduced to 543 million pounds from 772 million pounds and its shares were trading at around 289p. During his final speech as the chairman of the company, Sir Ken said that he had been with the business for around 55 years and that even though the entire experience had been demanding and fulfilling, it had always been enjoyable. He added that he was a keen gardener and had a farm that was vying for his attention, hence he was interested in seeing as to what lay on the other side of the fence. He said that he was looking forward to a bit of sunshine and fresh air. He also said that he planned to frame his lucky yellow and navy blue striped tie, which was presented to him by one of his family members and which he had worn to more that 50 of his store inaugurations. Sir Ken also said that they had made a promising start to the new financial year but cautioned that the current year could be challenging, as consumer spending might slow down due to rising inflation.
Many of his well-wishers paid tributes to Sir Ken on his retirement. Clive Black, analyst at Shore Capital said that there could be no one else to match up to Sir Ken Morrison. Sir Ken's successor, Sir Ian Gibson said that he was an “inspirational and dedicated” leader and Morrison's chief executive, Marc Bolland said that Sir Ken had put in 55 years of extreme hard work and did many of the things on his own. He added that “Some people do things in steps, but Ken took the stairs.” Morrisons had captured the grocery market in the previous month by notching up the highest share, taking away business from its competitors, namely Sainsbury's and Tesco.
Sir Ken Morrison has handed over the running of his company to his deputy and the 76 year old businessman now says that he has plans to relax and rejuvenate for a month before starting the retirement phase of his highly successful life. So, in making the wise decision to retire at the top of his career, this respected gentleman will now guide his company in an honorary position and hopefully steer the company around obstacles, which are predicted to hit the entire market in the current and the following year.
Article written by: Craig Parker - Make Money Expert |
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