Morrisons sets out stall with appointment of retail big hitter

The move to Bradford-based Morrisons signifies a return to Yorkshire for 40-year-old Mr Hodgson, who was born in Bridlington and spent ten years of his career at Leeds-based Asda.

Mr Hodgson will take on the newly created role of Morrisons' group commercial director, responsible for trading and marketing.

Mr Hodgson is best known for introducing the highly successful 'value' range to upmarket grocer Waitrose.

The introduction of the budget range in March 2009 was crucial in reversing the exodus of customers who started leaving Waitrose for cheaper rivals when the recession kicked in.

Analysts speculated that part of his new role might be to lure upmarket shoppers to Morrisons, which has traditionally catered for the more cost-conscious end of the market.

Mr Hodgson is also behind the recent decision to draft in two of Britain's best known chefs, Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal, to boost the Waitrose name.

Morrisons is continuing to attract Southern shoppers to its former Safeway stores, but some critics have said that there is still a lack of upmarket produce.

As the economy exits recession there is a belief that many shoppers will want to trade up again and may leave Morrisons if they feel it is not catering to the high end of the market as well as the cheaper end.

Waitrose managing director Mark Price said: "Richard has done a great job for Waitrose but I respect his wish to return to Yorkshire. He goes with our gratitude and all good wishes for the future."

Morrisons' insiders said that the supermarket is keen to recruit people who will commit to Morrisons and staying in Yorkshire.

Former chairman Sir Ken Morrison is still smarting from the decision by former chief executive Marc Bolland to jump ship after just three years in the job to join Marks and Spencer.

New chief executive Dalton Philips has moved his family to Yorkshire and made it plain that he intends to stay in the county.

Mr Hodgson has yet to establish a leaving date from Waitrose, where he is commercial director, responsible for marketing, international development and merchandising.

In addition to Mr Hodgson's appointment, Morrisons said that group trading director Martyn Jones will move into a new role as group corporate services director, reporting directly to Mr Philips.

Morrisons said the role will focus on the increasingly important areas of Government affairs, corporate responsibility, public relations and food safety.

Analysts said that Morrisons has trailed its rivals in many of these areas and Mr Philips is keen to bring Morrisons up to date.

Morrisons' said that Mr Jones' appointment reflects the group's commitment "to playing its full part in the national agenda on food and food related matters".

Mr Philips said: "Martyn is a retail heavyweight who has made an enormous contribution to Morrisons' success over a number of years.

"He has valuable experience in all areas of food retailing and will make an immediate and significant impact in his new role as group corporate services director."

Mr Jones will take up the new position from September at which time he will also step down from the Morrisons board, once he has completed a smooth transition of his trading director responsibilities to Mr

Hodgson.

Mr Hodgson joined Waitrose in 2006 as director of buying. He was appointed commercial director in January 2008.

Prior to that he spent 10 years at Asda in a number of senior roles, most recently as brand and marketing director.

Mr Philips said: "I'm delighted to welcome Richard to the Morrisons team. He brings wide experience from all areas of the UK grocery market and has made a big impact in all of his senior roles.

"His appointment underlines Morrisons' ability to attract the very best talent in retail to our team and we very much look forward to working with him."