Allan Leighton | |
---|---|
Born | Hereford, England | 12 April 1953
Education | Magdalen College School Oxford Polytechnic |
Known for | Asda (former CEO) Royal Mail (former chairman) Pandora (former chairman) Loblaw Companies (President) |
Children | 3 |
Allan Leighton (born 12 April 1953) is a British businessman, former chairman of The Co-operative Group, former CEO of Asda, former chief executive of Pandora, and former non-executive chairman of the Royal Mail. He is also the co-owner of Brackley Town.
Allan Leighton was born in Hereford, the son of a Co-op shop manager, and raised in Oxford. He thought about becoming a professional footballer, but broke his leg in six places aged 15. [1]
He supports Leeds United, where he was deputy chairman, Saracens rugby team, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club and the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team. [2]
Leighton joined Lloyds Bank as a cashier in 1972. He left to join Mars UK in Slough as a salesman in 1974 [3] and worked at the company for eighteen years, where his colleagues included Justin King, David Cheesewright and Richard Baker. He was appointed General Sales Manager for the UK Grocery Division in 1987 (the youngest director in the company worldwide), [1] and subsequently, managing director of Mars in Ireland and Portugal. [4]
Leighton says he owes a lot to the Mars brothers, who gave him the practical basis for much of what he did at Asda: they would fly economy, hire a car and inspect a factory without warning before management arrived, talking to workers to get a sense of what was going on. [5]
Leaving Mars as marketing and sales director for Pedigree Petfoods, he joined Archie Norman's management team at Asda as marketing director in March 1992. He attended Harvard University's six-week Advanced Management Program. [6]
In 1999, it was reported that an £18bn merger would happen between Asda and Kingfisher plc, which would see Leighton become deputy chief executive of the enlarged group. [7] However, the merger fell through and the company was sold to the US-based Wal-Mart for £6.2 billion in the same year. [8]
Leighton held several non-executive roles while still at Asda including Deputy Chairman of Leeds United Football Club from 1999 to 2003. [9] After leaving Asda in 2000, he was chairman of Business in the Community from 2000 to 2008, [3] chairman of Lastminute.com from 2000 to 2004 [4] and chairman of the Royal Mail from 2002 to 2008. [10] [11]
Leighton received a £3.4 million payoff from his previous employers Pandora, where he was chief executive from July 2013 to August 2014. [12]
In February 2015, The Co-operative Group appointed Leighton as its new independent non-executive chairman, he became the first independent chairman for the business. [13] Leighton was succeeded as Co-op chair by former Sodexo boss Debbie White in February 2024 after a nine year term. [14]
Leighton's later roles included chairman of Simba Sleep from August 2018, [15] and chairman at BrewDog from September 2021. [16] He also served as a non-executive director at Dyson, [17] BSkyB [18] and Scottish Power. [19]
In 2010, the University of Central Lancashire awarded him an honorary fellowship, in recognition of his achievements. [20]
Leighton took part in the 2008 London Marathon to raise money for Breast Cancer Care, [23] a charity to which he pledges all his earnings from television, speeches and his book "On Leadership". [2]
Asda Stores Limited, trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters are in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded into Southern England during the 1970s and 1980s, and acquired Allied Carpets, 61 large Gateway Supermarkets and other businesses, such as MFI Group. It sold these acquisitions during the 1990s to concentrate on the supermarkets. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until 1999 when it was acquired by Walmart for £6.7 billion. Asda was the second-largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2014 by market share, at which point it fell into third place.
Archibald John Norman is a British businessman and politician. He is the only person to have been chairman of an FTSE 100 company and a Member of the House of Commons (MP) at the same time. From January 2010 to January 2016, Norman was the chairman of ITV plc. He succeeded Robert Swannell as chairman of Marks & Spencer in September 2017.
The Co-operative Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank based in Manchester, England. Established as a bank for co-operators and co-operatives following the principles of the Rochdale Pioneers, the business evolved in the 20th century into a mid-sized British high street bank, operating throughout the UK mainland. Transactions took place at cash desks in co-op stores until the 1960s, when the bank set up a small network of branches that grew from 6 to a high of 160. Branches for residents of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands were closed in the 2010s during a significant rescaling exercise. As of 2023 it has 50 branches in the UK.
Justin Matthew King, CBE is an English businessman. King served as the CEO of J Sainsbury plc, parent company of the supermarket chain Sainsbury's, for ten years before stepping down in July 2014.
lastminute.com is an online travel and leisure retailer.
George William Davies is an English fashion designer and retailer.
Brent Shawzin Hoberman is a British entrepreneur and investor. During the dot-com boom, he co-founded lastminute.com with Martha Lane Fox in 1998, where he was CEO from its inception, before selling the business to Sabre in 2005 for $1.1bn.
Adam Alexander Crozier is a Scottish businessman who was formerly the chief executive officer of media company ITV plc, operator of the ITV television network covering most of the United Kingdom.
Stuart Alan Ransom Rose, Baron Rose of Monewden, Kt is a British businessman and life peer, who was the executive chairman of Marks & Spencer until 2010, remaining as chairman until early 2011. He was knighted in 2008 for his services to the retail industry and created a Conservative life peer on 17 September 2014, taking the title Baron Rose of Monewden, of Monewden in the County of Suffolk.
United Co-operatives Limited, or simply United Co-op, was a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, until its merger with the Co-operative Group in 2007. The society operated across Yorkshire, the North West and North Midlands of United Kingdom. In September 2002, it came about from the merger of United NorWest and Yorkshire Co-operative Society.
Leeds United Women are an English women's football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They are currently members of the FA Women's National League Division One North.
The Unite Group provides purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) across the United Kingdom.
Andrew James Bond is a former Chief Executive Officer of Asda having resigned in April 2010.
Andy Hornby is an English businessman, currently chief executive of The Restaurant Group, a British chain of restaurants and public houses.
Paul John Flowers is an English businessman and former Methodist minister. He is a former Labour councillor in Rochdale and Bradford, and was Non-executive chairman of the Co-operative Bank.
Arnaud de Puyfontaine is a French businessman who has been the chief executive officer of Vivendi since 2014.
Thomas Teichman is a venture capitalist who is co-founder of The Garage Soho, London and chairman of SPARK Ventures. He was an investor in lastminute.com, Made.com, Mergermarket, notonthehighstreet.com, MAID, ARC and Argonaut Games, Kobalt Music, System C Healthcare and Moshi Monsters.
Douglas John Gurr is a British businessman, and the Director of the Natural History Museum, London. He was a global vice-president and head of Amazon UK from 2016 to 2020. He was chairman of the British Heart Foundation. He formerly taught at Aarhus University and held positions in the United Kingdom civil service, at McKinsey & Co, and at Asda.
Sir Arthur Noel Stockdale was an English businessman who co-founded the British supermarket chain Asda, alongside Peter and Fred Asquith.
Simba Sleep is a British online mattress group that was founded in 2015. It manufactures and sells mattresses, bedding and other sleep products in several countries, including the UK, Canada and China. Simba's retail partnerships include John Lewis and Argos in the UK and Sleep Country stores in Canada.