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Sadi Mehmood / Allan Leighton


Allan Leighton

Allan Leighton has been described as the best connected man in the business world.

Allan was born in 1953 in Hereford and educated at Magdalen College School in Brackley, Northamptonshire. He started his career in Mars Confectionery as a Salesman in 1974 and worked his way up through the company before leaving in 1991. In 1992 he started with Asda as Group Marketing Director, subsequently being appointed Chief Executive in September 1996.

Allan Leighton It was at Asda that Allan Leighton made his name. Over almost a decade he and Archie Norman were credited with resuscitating a business that was on its knees. "We created a culture in Asda which was that we were the underdogs; we were going to fight back." Asda was sold to Wal-Mart in 1999 for £6.7bn. After the sale, Allan became the President and CEO of Wal-Mart Europe.

In November 2000 he left Asda and famously coined the phrase ‘Going Plural'. This idea of working full time but not in any one company, led to Allan taking on Non-executive roles in a range of companies including Last Minute.com, BHS, BSkyB, Leeds and Wilson Connoly.

In 2002, Allan was personally appointed by the Prime Minister to turn around the loss-making Royal Mail. Due to his success he was asked to stay on with the company for a further year as Chairman. He is also the Deputy Chairman of Selfridges & Co, George Weston Ltd and Loblaw Companies Ltd; he is also Non-Executive Director of BSkyB Group plc.

In June 2007 Allan's book "On Leadership: Practical Wisdom from the People Who Know" was published by Random House. At publication, it was the best selling business book in the UK. World Business called it "a profoundly hopeful read - informed by the almost palpable joy Leighton feels in inspiring and leading others". Chris Blackhurst, Business Editor of the Evening Standard, said it was "The best management book I've read in a long while".

All of Allan's royalties from his book are donated to Breast Cancer Care.

Allan is an inspirational speaker and draws upon his wealth of experience to deliver a straight talking, highly captivating speech for any business audience. Allan is best known for turning Asda from a 'basket case' into a highly successful company. His current roles as Chairman of the Royal Mail Group and Deputy Chairman of Selfridges, George Weston and Loblaw, provide real life examples to which delegates can relate. Topics covered are Leadership, Diversity, Strategy, Communication, Teamwork, Customer Service, Change and many more.