Supermarket magnate, Dalton Philips, 41, has been appointed the new Morrisons CEO.

Morrisons the supermarket has appointed Dalton Philips, Chief Operating Officer of one of Canada’s largest food distributors, as its new Chief Executive.

Philips will replace Marc Bolland who won the race to become Marks and Spencer’s Chief Executive after Sir Stuart Rose announced he would be retiring in 2011. 

Britain’s fourth largest supermarket chain has been on the search for a new CEO since November 2009.

Irishman Dalton Philips, 41, held a number of commercial positions in Walmart’s International division between 1998 and 2005, before having a short spell as Chief Executive at Irish department store group, Brown Thomas.

But it is his most recent role as Chief Operating Officer of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s largest food distributor, which has cemented Philips’ reputation as a retail magnate.

“I am delighted that Dalton will be joining Morrisons as Chief Executive,” said Chairman, Sir Ian Gibson.

He added: “He has tremendous retail pedigree and a wealth of experience from senior retail positions around the world. I look forward to welcoming him to the great team at Morrisons.”

Mr Philips said of his appointment: “I am really pleased to be joining Morrisons. It’s an incredibly exciting business with a terrific history and I’m really looking forward to meeting the team and to the challenge ahead.”