Asda to promote next CEO from within, Allan Leighton says

Asda plans to promote its next CEO from within its current crop of executives, claimed the supermarket’s executive chairman Allan Leighton.

The Leeds-based supermarket has not had a permanent CEO since the departure of Roger Burnley shortly after its acquisition by the Issa brothers and TDR in 2021. It’s since been held by a series of executives and chairman, including Mohsin Issa and Stuart Rose, before Leighton returned as executive chairman in November 2024.

When asked about Asda’s progress in appointing someone to the role, Leighton told The Grocer x Retail Week’s LIVE conference this morning that Asda would promote its next CEO from within its current crop of executives. 

“We’re in the same place we’ve always been,” Leighton said. “When Asda was successful, all of the CEOs that followed me were from that generation.”

Listing former Asda CEOs who have succeeded Leighton since he left in the early noughties – Tony De Nunzio, Paul Mason, Roger Burnley, and Andy Clarke – Leighton said “they all came from inside Asda”.

Asda has hired a number of “talented” executives since Leighton returned, including chief customer officer Rachel Eyre and VP of data and loyalty Chris Chalmers, while chief supply chain officer David Lepley was promoted to take over its Express division in September.

“Everybody thinks their business is unique – I think Asda is a bit unique and therefore I’ve always been a believer that you try and promote from within,” Leighton said.

“A measure of your success is that you can promote from within and so for now that is the plan. The history of Asda is that it’s very difficult to bring someone in from the outside.”

Leighton achieved legendary success within the business for leading Asda’s turnaround in the late nineties. It took three to five years to “rebuild” the business, followed by another five years where Asda was “leading the market”.

It will take a similar timeframe to revive the business from its current struggles, he said.

“We are trying to build a business for 10 years. I’m not going to be here at the end of the 10 years,” Leighton said. “We have to take a long-term view.”