Morrison to axe more Safeway head office staff

WM Morrison, the supermarket group, is expected to press ahead with a second round of job cuts at Safeway's head office this week.

The Bradford-based company, which took control of Safeway last month, is preparing to begin consultation on axing a further 300 posts from the group's base in Hayes, Middlesex.

Morrison, which last week told shareholders of the "pressing need" to implement its culture across the enlarged group, intends to slash 1,200 of Safeway's 1,600 head office staff. So far, about 300 have gone from the group's buying, marketing and central operations departments.

Separately, Morrison is understood to be close to appointing two non-executive directors. The pair, whose identity will be revealed at the group's annual meeting next month, will be the first independent directors on the company's board.

The move is intended to appease investor concerns about Morrisons' corporate governance, which was thrust in the spotlight after its bid for Safeway.

The company's defensive approach to corporate governance was highlighted in its latest annual report, which declined to state how much pension Sir Ken Morrison, its 72-year-old chairman, receives. The report reveals that Sir Ken enjoyed a 27 per cent pay rise last year, taking his total emoluments to £548,000, but did not clarify the level of pension that he drew on top of that.

According to the report, Sir Ken is "in receipt of a pension from the scheme in addition to his total emoluments". A spokesman said that because Sir Ken is 10 years past the company's normal retirement age, he has been drawing his pension for several years.

"The [disclosure] regulations have no requirement for the level of that pension to be disclosed," the spokesman added. This is only the second reporting season that companies have been required to disclose full pension details for their board members.

Morrison's executive salary bill rose more than 26 per cent last year to £3m. The increase was somewhat higher than its 13 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £320m for the year to end-March.