Supermarket group Wm Morrison’s chairman David Jones has written to major shareholders in an attempt to dispel any concerns over the effect of changes to senior executives’ contracts.
Ahead of the release of the annual accounts next week, Jones told shareholders the company has extended top staff member contracts to two years.
The decision goes against general recommendations to keep contract periods 12 months or less.
However, the company said the move was intended to reassure the new finance director, Richard Penneycook, that his position would be secure on the event of a new executive joining the board, after his recent relocation to the group’s Yorkshire headquarters.
Jones also took the opportunity to counteract the barrage of negative press surrounding Morrisons, by reminding shareholders that it was going through a period of readjustment in the hope of achieving greater stability.
