People: Retail's main job moves in June

Pennycook is a man who many observers had identified as having the skills required to graduate to a CEO role, so his return to the role of CFO was unexpected.

The cerebral accountant was widely tipped as a successor to Marc Bolland in 2010 before Dalton Phillips was parachuted into the Morrisons hot seat from Canadian retailer Loblaw, continuing a trend for finance directors to be overlooked for the top grocery retail jobs in favour of candidates with operational or marketing expertise.

The appointment of Pennycook is a real coup for the Co-op which, in food at least, has been struggling to find a convincing identity for itself in a crowded marketplace. His strategic skills will be of particular benefit as new chief executive Euan Sutherland seeks to remove any enduring obstacles to the messy and drawn-out integration of the Somerfield business. Having guided Morrisons through the similarly challenging integration of Safeway, Pennycook is as qualified as anyone to make the right calls.

With former Kingfisher executive Sutherland at the helm and Pennycook at his side, the Co-op is beginning to create an impressive new management team. Add to that the recent hire of Richard Pym and Niall Booker as, respectively, chair and chief executive of The Co-operative Bank and the Manchester-based group looks well equipped to tackle the perennial challenges that face a business with such a diverse portfolio of products and services.

Over in Bradford, meanwhile, Pennycook’s successor Trevor Strain has endured a challenging start to his tenure. Dalton Phillips has been firm in his conviction that a focus on quality fresh food is the key to growth for the retailer, but after a honeymoon period for Phillips during which Morrisons’ market share peaked at a record 12.1%, recent financials have been less than flattering and he, Frain and the rest of the executive team are under pressure to improve performance sooner rather than later. In this context, Pennycook’s move across the Pennines is beginning to look shrewder every day.