Morrisons’ new boss Dalton Philips spent his first day in the top job today visiting various parts of the business before taking up the reins at the Gain Lane head office tomorrow.

Mr Philips, 41, has succeeded Marc Bolland, who left to become Marks & Spencer chief executive from May 1.

A former executive for Asda owner Wal-Mart, Mr Philips has relocated from Canada for the Morrisons job. He was previously chief operating officer of food group Loblaw – Canada’s largest food distributor and a 1,000-strong retail chain.

Mr Philips is a relative unknown in Britain’s retail sector, but Morrisons said on announcing his appointment that he had a “tremendous retail pedigree and a wealth of experience from senior retail positions around the world”.

Before Loblaw, he was chief executive of Irish department store Brown Thomas and also previously chief operating officer of US retailer Wal-Mart’s German operations.

Mr Philips, who is Irish, joins Morrisons at a resurgent time for the UK’s fourth largest supermarket.

It recently reported a 21 per cent hike in annual profits to £767 million for the 12 months to January 31, while like-for-like sales rose six per cent.