Knives are out at Morrisons

DISGRUNTLED shareholders are keeping the pressure on Morrisons chairman Sir Ken Morrison, despite last week's boardroom shake-up at the supermarkets giant.

Insiders suggest that the changes, which saw the exit of finance director Martin Ackroyd and the promotion of joint managing director Bob Stott to the new role of chief executive, have not gone far enough. The spotlight remains firmly on 73-year-old Sir Ken.

Morrisons has been under pressure since buying rival Safeway last year for £3.35bn. The planned three-year integration has proved troublesome, leading to three profits warnings.

Sir Ken and his family control 18% of the retailer. Some shareholders are believed to have told non-executive director David Jones, who last week became deputy chairman, that they hope the chairman will bow out sooner rather than later.

A source close to the situation said: 'If Sir Ken thinks he will see out the remaining two years of the three-year integration process, he is living in cloud cuckoo land.'