Meet the new man at Morrisons

Mr Philips succeeds Marc Bolland, who has left to head up Marks & Spencer as chief executive, starting on May 1.

A former executive for Asda owner Wal-Mart, Mr Philips has relocated from Canada for the Morrisons job.

His last role saw him act as chief operating officer of food group Loblaw - Canada's largest food distributor and a 1,000-strong retail chain - since January 2007.

Morrisons said its new chief executive would spend his first day visiting various areas of the business. He is due in the head office tomorrow.

Mr Philips, 41, 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".

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.

Mr Philips, who is Irish, joins Morrisons at a resurgent time for the UK's fourth largest supermarket.

It recently reported a 21% hike in annual profits to 767 million for the 12 months to January 31, while like-for-like sales rose 6%.

His predecessor 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.

However, competition in the sector is showing no sign of easing and Mr Philips will need to maintain growth momentum ahead of a tough year for consumer spending.

Its larger rival Sainsbury's warned last week that consumers would likely remain cautious in 2010, with fears of tax increases looming after the general election.

Sharply falling food inflation is also putting sales growth and profit margins under pressure across the sector.

Morrisons has yet to make a push into the non-food sector and does not have an online offering - and experts will be keen for an update on plans going forward to ensure the revival at Morrisons keeps on track.