Struggling Leeds-based supermarket group Asda said this weekend that veteran retailer Allan Leighton, 71, would return to the company as executive chairman — more than 20 years after he served as CEO.

Leighton will succeed Stuart Rose, who has been Asda chair since 2021 and in September assumed the executive responsibilities of co-owner Mohsin Issa.

Rose said earlier this month that Asda had “slightly lost the plot” on store standards, product availability and prices.

Asda said on November 4 that funds managed by London private equity firm TDR Capital completed the acquisition of Zuber Issa’s shares in the business.

This took the ownership of Asda to 67.5% by TDR Capital, 22.5% by Mohsin Issa, and 10% by Walmart Inc.

Leighton served as Asda CEO from 1996 to 2001, managing a turnaround with then chairman Archie Norman before the business was sold to Walmart for £6.7 billion.

Asda said Rose will remain on the board to ensure an orderly transition before stepping down.

“I am delighted to be returning to the business which has always been a special place for me,” Leighton said.

TDR Capital managing partner Gary Lindsay

Gary Lindsay, managing partner of TDR Capital, said Leighton’s “experience and understanding of Asda will stand us in good stead as he leads the business into the next stage of its development.”

On November 9 Asda reported a 2.5% decline in total revenues excluding fuel to £5.3 billion for the third quarter ending September 30. Asda said third quarter like-for-like sales declined 4.8% “representing an improvement on the previous quarter this financial year.”

Blackburn-based billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and TDR Capital completed the £6.8 billion acquisition of a majority ownership stake in Asda from Walmart Inc. in 2021.

In September 2024 Asda announced that Mohsin Issa would step back from his executive leadership role at the supermarket giant to focus on his previously announced role as sole CEO of EG Group, the Blackburn-based petrol forecourt and retail company.