Dalton Philips has taken up his post at the head of the Bradford-based supermarket chain Morrisons.
Morrisons’ chief executive spent his first day visiting various areas of the business before taking up his post at head office on Tuesday.
Philips, who has relocated from Canada for the job, succeeds Marc Bolland, who left to head up Marks & Spencer as chief executive, starting on May 1.
Philips's last role was as chief operating officer of food group Loblaw - Canada's largest food distributor and a 1,000-strong retail chain - since January 2007.
Before Loblaw, he was chief executive of Irish department store Brown Thomas and also previously chief operating officer of US retailer Wal-Mart's German operations.
Philips is a relative unknown in Britain's retail sector, but the group said on announcing his appointment that he had a "tremendous retail pedigree and a wealth of experience from senior retail positions around the world".
Philips, who is Irish, joins Morrisons at a resurgent time for the UK's fourth-largest supermarket.
Bolland successfully turned the group around to see it become the sector's star performer in recent years, notching up stellar sales growth that has left larger rivals trailing behind.
