Sir Terry Leahy: As Potts leaves Morrisons ‘it’s a new chapter but the same story’

“What’s been your proudest moment at Morrisons?” I ask David Potts on the day it’s revealed that he is standing down from the Bradford-based grocer after nine years at the helm.

Potts, who also formerly scaled the heights at Tesco before joining Morrisons, naturally has a few highlights to look back on, not least breathing new life into Morrisons when he joined a then-troubled business.

But in the end, there is probably one period that stands out – “taking the country through Covid as key workers”.

As new crises bear down on the nation it’s easy -–and that’s saying something about the present state of affairs – to forget the shock that Covid-19 brought and the way retail pivoted to keep people supplied with essentials.

Potts and Morrisons were right at the forefront of this, as they launched innovations such as regular food box delivery and telephone ordering to cater to those most in need such as the old and vulnerable. He set new benchmarks in retail pay after Morrisons, in 2021, became the first supermarket group to pay staff at least £10 an hour.

It was retail at its best, so perhaps it’s not surprising that it features so high among Potts’ Morrisons memories. He is widely seen as one of the best in the business, epitomising some of its best characteristics, such as offering a career path enabling him and others to rise from a troubled background to lead a giant company. 

Sir Terry Leahy, who worked with Potts for decades at Tesco before becoming chair of Morrisons following its £7bn acquisition by private equity group CD&R, describes his departure as a “bittersweet moment” and calls Potts a “natural retailer”.

Leahy says: “How he renewed the brand in the early years, how he led the brand – and the industry – through Covid was quite remarkable, and then leading the business through some quite difficult times.”

Retail instincts and fresh eyes

Those difficult times have come in the last few years, as the cost of living and cost of doing business have rocked retail. Some would say Morrisons took its eye off the ball of traditional strengths such as value for money as it lost its big-four place to Aldi, or that the debt that came with CD&R’s acquisition has limited its room for manoeuvre.

However, as Potts prepares to hand over the reins in November to Rami Baitiéh, Morrisons has just delivered a fifth consecutive quarter of improved trading and its leadership is confident the business, including developing areas such as wholesaling and convenience, is well positioned to succeed in the long term.

Leahy believes Baitiéh is cut from the same cloth as Potts. Baitiéh, who has worked at Carrefour’s divisions in Argentina and Taiwan, as well as leading the flagship French business, is credited for turnarounds and transformations.

“He’s somebody of that generation who has stood out wherever he’s been and made a difference. He’s not operated in the UK context but his instincts are the same,” Leahy says. 

“Like David, he’s a retailer. Rami has a similar background but a fresh pair of eyes. It might be a new chapter but it’s the same story.”

As for Potts, he plans to take a break “to remind myself who I am” but will then be looking for “further ways to contribute to business and to the UK’s economic recovery from the pandemic”.

As Morrisons’ trading improves, the hope is that Baitiéh – whose LinkedIn profile also includes “colonel of the French Air Force and Space Reserve” – will combine the retail instinct and management prowess that Potts brought to the role. If so, that’s good not just for Morrisons but for retail and its wider contribution to the country.