Morrisons sales upturn could act as springboard

He told The Yorkshire Post: “I’ve likened Morrisons to a supertanker heading for an iceberg and before you turn anything like that around you’ve got to stop it. David Potts is doing a good job of just that.”

Mr Owen added: “The other satisfying thing in terms of the group is that over the Christmas period they had more customer transactions than this time last year, which could indicate that people are regaining a little bit of confidence in the business and they are returning.

“Which again is down to what David Potts has done. He’s put some more resources into the stores.

“Personally, I think he needs to put a bit more in because product availability on the shelves in the stores is still not as good as it ought to be, but it’s a lot better than it was when that ‘wrecking ball’ called Dalton Phillips was in charge.

“He needs to put more people into the stores to get them filled up, keep them filled up and keep the customers happy.

“In that respect he’s going to have to look carefully at the head office.

“There are still probably too many people in head office who are good at powerpoint presentations but he needs feet on the ground not people on the keyboards.”

Another positive sign that shows Mr Potts may be on the right tracks with his turnaround plan was the uplift on the online side of the business, Mr Owen said.