Tesco boss Jason Tarry ‘could take top job at Morrisons’

According to City sources, Tesco director Jason Tarry has been identified as a possible replacement for Morrisons boss David Potts.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), the US private equity firm that owns Morrisons, is using headhunter Egon Zehnder to find candidates for a number of senior positions at the supermarket.

That includes finding a replacement for chief operating officer Trevor Strain, who left last year.

Sources said a number of candidates have also been picked as potential CEOs, including some who have already been approached by the headhunters.

A source said an announcement about Potts’ replacement could be ‘imminent’, although the length of executive contracts means it could take up to a year for a new boss to be installed.

Tarry is chief commercial officer at Tesco, by far the largest grocer in Britain. He previously worked with Potts, who will turn 66 in March. He is also a former colleague of Morrisons chairman Sir Terry Leahy, who managed Tesco until 2011.

Morrisons has been under fire since being taken over by private equity in 2021 as revenue growth lags rivals.

Critics say CD&R over-indebted Morrisons. They fear it will struggle to meet interest payments if base rates rise and will be forced to sell properties to raise money.

Potts said in January that last year was “a year of transition” and he expected the company’s performance to improve. Morrisons declined to comment.