Introduction I am require to obtain a copy of Annual Report and other Financial Information to prepare a report about a selected company. The company I have chosen to base my report on is Morrison supermarket which is a public limited company.
Company History
The Company was founded by William Morrison in 1899, initially as an egg and butter merchant in Rawson Market, Bradford, England operating under the name of Wm Morrison Limited.
His son, Ken Morrison took over the company in 1952, aged 21. In 1958 it opened a small shop in the city centre, followed by its first supermarket "Victoria", in the Girlington district of Bradford in 1961. In 1967 it became a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In 2004 Morrisons, which operated mainly in the North of England, acquired Safeway, another leading British supermarket chain which owned 479 stores, mainly in Scotland and the South of England. The acquisition quickly ran into difficulties caused in part by the outgoing management of Safeway changing their accounting systems just six weeks before the transaction was completed. The result was a series of profit warnings being issued by Morrisons, poor financial results and a need to revert to manual systems.
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Morrisons store in Consett, County Durham, a former Safeway branch
The programme of store conversions from Safeway to Morrisons was the largest of its kind in British retail history, focusing initially on the retained stores which were freehold, over 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2) with separate car parks. Within a few weeks, Safeway carrier bags were replaced by those of Morrisons and the new owner's own-brand products began to appear in Safeway stores.
Morrisons currently has 375 superstores in the United Kingdom (including new store openings by the end of 2007), including those it retained following its purchase of Safe Way. Until 2004, Morrisons superstores were largely concentrated in the English Midlands and the North of England but had expanded southwards, beginning with a store at Erith, Great London, which opened in 1998. Most Morrisons stores operate from large superstores with a core focus on groceries and home wares, with fewer electronics, clothing and furnishings than the company's main supermarket rivals.
Morrisons strategy is based on doing the basics efficiently, selling predominantly food at lower prices, and doing so only from large stores. This is a different approach from the other three big chains who have moved into services such as banking and insurance.
Morrisons supermarkets are currently split into 6 areas of the UK. Scotland, North, Midland, South East with one of these in Gibraltar, South Central and the South West.