The 18th century property is located within York’s famous Roman walls and
comes with a 70ft garden.

Industry sales figures from Kantar show that over the last four weeks
Morrisons had returned to year-on-year sales growth and performed ahead of
its main rivals Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s.

Last year Mr Philips said that Morrisons would commit £1bn over the next three
years to fighting the rise of Aldi and Lidl. Since then the retailer has cut
prices and launched a new loyalty card scheme called Match More.

A peek inside Dalton Philips’ Grade II-listed 18th-century townhouse

Mr Philips was due to stay at Morrisons until a new chief executive was
appointed. However, it is understood that Mr Higginson has effectively taken
day-to-day control of the retailer, sidelining Mr Philips.

One of Mr Higginson’s first acts was to scrap misting machines for fruit and
vegetables at 300 stores.

The scrapping of the controversial in-store machines – which kept fresh food
cool – came after former boss Sir Ken Morrison and critics of the company
claimed the misty fruit and vegetables showed Morrisons had lost touch with
its core northern customers.

Mr Philips had consistently denied criticism that the machines were an attempt
to move upmarket, claiming they would become a common sight in European
supermarkets.

A spokesman for Morrisons said the removal of the machines was a sign the
company was going “back to basics”.