BEING the boss of Morrisons is a bit like running Manchester United in Sir Alex Ferguson’s wake.

Whoever occupies the top job at the Bradford-based grocer will inevitably be compared by many with Sir Ken Morrison, son of the company’s founder, who took the business from a market stall to the UK’s fourth largest grocer Sir Ken has made his views clear. He doesn’t think the current management team has got things right.

But Dalton Philips, chief executive since 2010 after Marc Bolland – famously described by Sir Ken as ‘not a retailer’ – went off to run Marks & Spencer, not unsurprisingly disagrees with the supermarket doyen, whose portrait dominates Morrisons’ head office foyer on Gain Lane.

He says the sector has moved on with Morrisons facing challenges that were unheard of in Sir Ken’s day.

“We are in a market that is undergoing some of the biggest changes since the 1950s which saw the advent of the supermarket.

“I’ll make decisions today that will impact on future generations in this business just as previous management made decisions which impact on me. It’s about continually evolving and moving forward, “ he said.

For a man under so much pressure – from a bad press as Morrisons battles against falling sales and outspoken criticism from Sir Ken and others as the company’s share price has tumbled – Dalton remains both cheerful and determined.

“A chief executive is always under pressure. This role carries great responsibilities as you would expect . You have to press on, back yourself and be committed,” he said.

We met the day after Morrisons announced it was streamlining its supermarket management structure which features up to seven layers of managers in the bigger stores. The move to cull two tiers could see 2,600 jobs losses. On the other hand, Morrisons is creating 3,000 jobs in new supermarkets and another 1,000 in its expanding its M Local convenience store chain.

“Other retailers have done this well before us and trials have shown the new structure to be clearer and simple and more appropriate. In stores where we have tried it , colleagues have appreciated it because you need clarity about who your boss is,” he said. These changes are part of a modernisation programme which has seen Morrisons slow down supermarket development – although one that should go ahead is a new Shipley store which will bring 250 jobs – for which planning consent is being sought.

Instead, the focus is on rolling out convenience stores; launching its home delivery service in partnership with online retailer Ocado and upgrading its systems for cashing up and store ordering away from pen and paper to modern IT.

Morrisons has suffered from the rise of discounters such as Aldi and Lidl which are building on market share gained due to austerity .

They contributed to Morrisons posting only its second ever loss in 2013 when one-off costs resulted in a pre-tax loss of £176 million and sales fell by 7.2 per cent. Hence, the anger and unease shown by Sir Ken and other shareholders at the recent AGM and negative comments from some analysts.

Dalton said: “As chief executive the buck stops with me and I have to take full accountability for the performance of the business which was very disappointing last year. I’m very clear on where we need to go and what we need to do to put this business on the right footing and be fit for the future.

“We have a situation where consumers have embedded behaviours from the recession so they ‘re-minimising their food shop, being very savvy about how they shop and shopping prudently across different formats and channels. We now have the discounters and it is a very different proposition from what we’ve known in the past. We’re having to deal with all of this.

“Sir Ken and I disagree about online, convenience and IT systems but my job is to deal with the environment we’re in and drive the business forward. As a senior management team we are absolutely committed to this business.”

Morrisons' fightback includes a £1 billion price cutting programme which will halve profitability in the next few years. It started in May with 1,200 items being reduced by 17 per cent. A second round of reductions was unveiled this week.

Dalton Philips said he was not trying to turn Morrisons into a discounter.

He said: “We need to offer even better pricing than we do today and be more efficient. We want to continue our proud tradition of fantastic quality fresh food and of controlling the supply chain. No-one controls more of the supply chain than Morrisons. We are one of only about three retailers in the world that has control over what it sells in terms of fresh food.”

He is encouraged by the progress of the new online business which reached London a month ahead of schedule and the Manchester area three months early. Using Ocado’s technology enabled Morrisons to fast-track its online launch and it aims to cover 40 per cent of UK households by the end of 2014.

“It will take time but online is on target to be profitable within four years. I’m encouraged by progress so far which has seen us already achieve industry-best standards in the first three months,” he said .

There is a hint of annoyance that, following recent headlines, Morrisons is seen as a failing business. The boss firmly rejects this.

He stated: “We are still a hugely successful growing business with over 12 million customers a week. We are expanding our online convenience and manufacturing businesses and opening new stores.

“We’re very clear that we want to be a fresh-food-led value-based retailer. We have to press on with key bold moves. History will judge us but I will give it everything I can, I am very committed and enjoy the job.”