Dalton Philips is an Irish businessman, the current CEO of UK retailer Morrisons.
Born in Ireland, Philips is the son of a County Wicklow egg farmer. He attended from 1981 to 1986 Stowe School, Buckingham, the fee-paying English public school, where he was a border in Grafton House. A keen rugby union player, Philips was an integral member of the Stowe XV that toured Dublin and the surrounding area in the winter of 1985. He graduated from University College Dublin, and has an MBA from Harvard.[1]
His retailing career began in New Zealand, where he began as a store manager.[2] He then had 11 jobs in 14 countries, including an appointment to Jardine Matheson's Dairy Farm International.[3] He joined Walmart in 1998, and after working in Brazil, rose to the position of Chief Operating Officer in Germany, where he worked with David Wild, the Halfords chief executive. He then joined the Weston family retail operation as CEO of upmarket Irish department store group Brown Thomas in 2007, and then becoming Chief Operating Officer of Canadian retailer Loblaw in January 2007, under Allan Leighton.[1]
After Morrisons CEO Marc Bolland announced his departure to Marks and Spencers in December 2009, Philips was appointed in a surprise move as his replacement in January 2010.[2] However, Leighton worked with Morrisons chairman Sir Ian Gibson during his tenure at Asda, and is good friends with founder Sir Ken Morrison.[1][3]