Two decades on from his first spell turning around the supermarket chain, he has been appointed as its executive chair, tasked with repeating the feat.
When Leighton, 71, left Asda in 2000 it was a scrappy challenger to Tesco and Sainsbury's and he had just revived the chain and engineered a sale to Walmart for more than £6bn. Now, it is a lumbering incumbent with 580 supermarkets plus more than 500 convenience stores and risks losing third-largest its spot as the UK's grocer to a new generation of cheaper discount rivals and small high street stores.
The first time around, Leighton helped save Asda from collapse with the then chair Archie Norman, now chair of Marks & Spencer. Here is what is in Leighton's in-tray as he tries to get the troubled business back on track once more.
Finding a chief executive
Leighton's first job will be finding a retail expert to tackle the business basics that have gone awry since the £6.8bn takeover in early 2021 by Blackburn's billionaire Issa brothers and the private equity firm TDR Capital.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 26, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 26, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Jones back to run rule over England as ITV pundit
Eddie Jones will cast a critical eye over England's make-or-break Six Nations campaign with the former head coach signed as an ITV pundit for the forthcoming championship.
UK second most attractive country in investor survey
The UK is the second most attractive country for investment behind the US, signalling a climb up the rankings, according to an annual survey of global business leaders by the consultancy PwC.
Robot retailers Firms embrace automation to cut staffing costs
Electronic shelf labels, returns machines, robot bag packers and yet more self-service tills are just some of the many technologies that UK retailers are embracing as they try to solve the problem of rising labour costs.
Svitolina surges on but watches husband Monfils exit
In the aftermath of a comeback win that put her into the 12th grand slam quarter-final of her career, Elina Svitolina left Rod Laver Arena aware her most difficult task of the day was still to come.
Tielemans now Villa's pacemaker at heart of resurgence
Former Leicester midfielder has proved sceptics wrong with his displays central to the side's transformation
Rashford open to playing for United despite looming exit
Marcus Rashford is ready and available to play for Manchester United, the Guardian understands, after Ruben Amorim indicated the forward had ruled himself out of contention for the defeat by Brighton on Sunday.
Use of rehabilitation and tags could allow a women's prison to close, says minister
A women's jail in England or Wales should be closed by diverting offenders to other forms of punishment and rehabilitation, the prisons minister, James Timpson, has said.
Comedy review: It's strictly stand-up as music stops
\"Twenty-one years of hard graft on the comedy scene, to now be best known for dancing.\" The ironies of his newfound celebrity are not lost on Chris McCausland, not only the winner of last year's Strictly Come Dancing but a contestant so well-loved that he's been credited with redeeming the entire franchise.
Fashion The first lady or a mob wife at a funeral?
In the Capitol rotunda the incoming first lady was nowhere to be seen.
Alaska Resumes Its 'Inhumane' Shooting of Bears and Wolves
Alaska is to resume the aerial shooting of bears and wolves to boost caribou and moose numbers despite an official report casting doubt on the value of the practice.
