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Allan Leighton

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Allan Leighton
Born (1953-04-12) 12 April 1953 (age 71)
Hereford, England
EducationMagdalen College School
Oxford Polytechnic
Known forAsda (former CEO)
Royal Mail (former chairman)
Pandora (former chairman)
Loblaw Companies (President)
Children3

Allan Leighton (born 12 April 1953) is a British businessman, chairman of The Co-operative Group since February 2015, 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.

Biography

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]

Currently based half of the time in Toronto, Ontario, he is advising retail magnate Galen Weston and his son on Canadian retail chain Loblaw Companies (for which he is being paid C$1million),[2] and is deputy chairman of Selfridges & Co. On 21 April 2008, Loblaw Companies announced that Leighton will take on the role of president of the company.

In 2008 Leighton was the "mentor" in Five's show Breaking into Tesco.

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.[3] He received a £3.4 million payoff from his previous employers Pandora, where he was chief executive from July 2013 to August 2014.[4]

Education

Leighton attended Magdalen College School[citation needed], Brackley and graduated from Oxford Polytechnic.[citation needed]

Career

Leighton joined Lloyds Bank as a cashier in 1972. He left to join Mars UK in Slough as a salesman in 1974[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

In 2009, 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.[9] However, the merger fell through and the company was sold to the US-based Wal-Mart for £6.2 billion in the same year.[10]

Leighton left Asda in November 2000 and has held a number of different business roles, including:

Awards and nominations

In 2004, Leighton was awarded an honorary degree from Cranfield University.[citation needed]

In 2010, the University of Central Lancashire awarded him an honorary fellowship, in recognition of his achievements.[20]

Publications

  • On Leadership (2008) Ghostwritten by Teena Lyons.[21]
  • Tough Calls (2012) Ghostwritten by Teena Lyons.[22]

Support for Charity

Leighton completed the 2008 London Marathon in 5 hours, 55 minutes and 27 seconds[23] in aid of Breast Cancer Care.

Leighton has bid to raise £1million for Breast Cancer Care [citation needed], the charity to which he pledges all his earnings from television, speeches and his book "On Leadership".[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Allan Leighton". Management Today. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  2. ^ a b c "Allan Leighton keeps running". The Sunday Times. London. 5 April 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  3. ^ "Allan Leighton to get £3.4m payoff from jewellery brand Pandora". The Guardian. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Pandora CEO Leighton Steps Down After a Year at Helm". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg L.P. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Allan Leighton". Business in the Community. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  6. ^ a b "Allan Leighton Appointed Chairman of lastminute.com". Lastminute.com. October 2000. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  7. ^ Teather, David (1 June 2007). "Singular skill of a man who relished going plural". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  8. ^ Beer, Michael; Weber, James (1 June 1999). "ASDA: Allan Leighton with the Advanced Managment [sic] Program, May 31, 1997". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ Cowe, Roger (19 April 1999). "Kingfisher and Asda shrug off rival deal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Profile: Allan Leighton". BBC News. 4 December 2003. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  11. ^ "Don't touch football with a barge-pole, says ex-Leeds boss". The Independent. 8 August 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Former Asda chief joins Dyson board". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Royal Mail chairman Leighton to step down". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Another three years in post for head of Royal Mail". The Daily Telegraph. 10 December 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  15. ^ Gow, David; editor, industrial (7 November 2003). "The Guardian profile: Allan Leighton". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 November 2020. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ "Allan leighton". Business Week. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  17. ^ "Allan Leighton". www.co-operative.coop. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Allan Leslie Leighton, Simba Sleep Ltd: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  19. ^ "BrewDog hires former Asda boss to tackle 'toxic' culture". 13 September 2021.
  20. ^ Yorkshire Post, 10 September 2013 (not online).
  21. ^ ""On Leadership" Allan Leighton". Professional Ghost. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  22. ^ "Teena Lyons". 14 February 2017.
  23. ^ "Results Search". www.marathonguide.com.
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