Sir Kenneth Duncan Morrison CBE was an English businessman, Life President, and former chairman of Morrisons, the fifth largest supermarket group in the United Kingdom.
15 Facts About Ken Morrison
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Ken Morrison was the son of William Morrison, who founded the company.
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Ken Morrison was the youngest child of William Murdoch Morrison and Hilda Morrison, who owned a small grocery chain set up in 1899.
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Ken Morrison was born in Bradford, and was brought up by five elder sisters.
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Ken Morrison was given jobs such as working on the market stalls or checking eggs against lamps for defects.
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Ken Morrison served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps as a National Serviceman, and was demobilised in 1952.
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Ken Morrison's father was seriously ill, so Ken began to manage the business at the age of 26.
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Ken Morrison received the CBE in 1990 and was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours list for services to the food retailing industry.
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Ken Morrison lived on the outskirts of York, in Myton Hall, Myton-upon-Swale, North Yorkshire, with his wife Lynne, and his two youngest children.
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Just after the takeover of Safeway, Ken Morrison went from a respected industry figure to a target for disgruntled investors furious at the mishandling of the transaction.
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Previously, in 2001, Ken Morrison had described Safeway as an "indigestible meal" for his supermarket group.
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Ken Morrison was the longest serving chairman of a top 100 public company in the UK.
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In June 2006, Ken Morrison announced that he would relinquish executive control of the company, which came into effect from 4 September, making way for the appointment of Dutchman Marc Bolland as chief executive.
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Ken Morrison announced that it was his intention to stand down as the chairman and director of the company in January 2008, and take the honorary post of Life President.
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Ken Morrison died on 1 February 2017 after a brief illness.