Setback for Morrisons as online director steps down

Morrisons will use Ocado to deliver online orders

Mr Dymond, Morrisons’ online food operations director, quit the job after only a few weeks after deciding it was not what he was expecting.

He was offered another role, but decided to leave.

The man in charge of Bradford-based Morrisons’ online business, Simon Thompson, is continuing to prepare for the grocer’s launch in Leeds and Bradford next Monday.

Its next focus will be on North Yorkshire around Harrogate and York as it taps into the wealthier areas of the county.

It will then launch in South Yorkshire and London in the middle of the year.

Mr Dymond was hired by the UK’s fourth biggest grocer late last year from Coles, the Australian retailer.

Morrisons declined to comment.

The firm began making its first online food deliveries in the Midlands on January 10 and expects to be covering half of the UK by the beginning of 2015.

Morrisons’ late entry into both online grocery and local convenience stores, the sector’s two fastest growing channels, has dented its market share and pro- fits.

Earlier this month, the group revealed it had endured a poor Christmas despite it having talked up its prospects in November.

Its like-for-like sales fell 5.6 per cent, excluding fuel, in the six weeks to January 5 and it said year profit would be towards the bottom of the range of analysts’ expectations.

Morrisons is also facing calls from activist investors, including US hedge fund Elliott Associates, to radically restructure its property portfolio.

The grocer plans to detail the result of a property review when it publishes 2013-14 results on March 13, but has said the majority of its core estate will remain under freehold ownership.

It has also had to cope with a senior employee being arrested over allegations of insider trading reportedly in relation to its online partnership with Ocado.

Paul Coyle, group treasurer and head of tax, was held last month in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, as part of an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The allegations relate to dealing in Ocado shares before the tie-up between the two retailers was announced. The agreement sent the stock soaring.

Morrisons is using Ocado’s technological know-how to make its belated debut in internet deliveries.

It announced last May that it had signed a 25-year deal with Ocado to acquire its distribution centre in Dordon, Warwickshire, for £170m and use its technology.