Talk to the customers, says ex-Morrisons boss
Morrisons' former chairman Sir Ken Morrison has spoken of his dismay at job losses at the supermarket - urging bosses to "start talking to customers".
The store has announced it is to axe 2,600 jobs as part of a drive to modernise the way its stores are managed.
Chief executive Dalton Philips wants to remove layers of management that currently mean some stores have seven tiers between the shop floor and the store manager.
The changes will involve around 2,600 redundancies, although Morrisons said this year will also see it create 1,000 jobs in its M local convenience stores and an additional 3,000 in new supermarkets.
It also raises fresh questions about Morrisons' plans for a new store in Newport, which it had already hinted may be under threat because of the company's financial position.
Morrisons has two stores in Telford as well as branches in Oswestry, Market Drayton, Welshpool, Newtown and Shrewsbury.
One store worker from Shropshire said: "We have been told to reapply for jobs. There will be around 20 people applying for one job. We have been told it is looking at laying off thousands of staff by August."
Sir Ken, who retired in 2008 after 55 years in which the company became the UK's fourth biggest grocer said he had a message to those now in charge, adding: "The solution, in my view, is very simple.
"Go and shop in your shop and have a look at it. Talk to the people, talk to the customers.
"And don't make presidential visits to places. Go as an ordinary member of the public. And once you win people's confidence, whether they be staff or customers, you do learn a lot. And you're never quite as good as you think you are."
The Bradford-based chain racked up an annual loss of £176 million in the year to February and recently announced a 7.1 per cent decline in quarterly sales.
