Allan Leighton

Infobox Person
name = Allan Leighton

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image_size = 150px
caption = English businessman
birth_date = Birth date and age|1953|4|12|mf=y
birth_place = Hereford, England
residence = Middlesex, United Kingdom
Toronto, Canada
nationality = British
known_for = Asda (former-CEO)
Royal Mail (Chairman)
Loblaw Companies (President)
education = Magdalen College School
North Oxford Polytechnic
Harvard University
networth =
spouse = Anne (separated)
children = 3
website = [http://www.onleadership.co.uk Onleadership.co.uk]
footnotes =

Allan Leighton (born April 12, 1953 in Hereford) is an English businessman, and current non-executive Chairman of the Royal Mail

Biography

Born in Hereford, the son of a Co-op stores manager, he was raised in Oxford. Educated at Magdalen College School, Brackley he harboured thoughts of becoming a professional footballer, but broke his leg in six places aged 15.citeweb|url=http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/article/492390/mt-interview-allan-leighton/|title=Allan Leighton|publisher=Management Today|date=25th August, 2005|accessdate=2008-04-05]

Career

After graduation from North Oxford Polytechnic, he joined Lloyds Bank as a cashier in 1972. Leighton left to join Mars UK in Slough 1974 as a salesman, where he spent 18 years - his compatriots included Justin King, David Cheesewright and Richard Baker. Leighton was appointed General Sales Manager – UK Grocery Division in 1987 (the youngest director in the company worldwide), and subsequently Managing Director of Mars in Ireland and Portugal. 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.citeweb|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/jun/01/postalservice|title=Singular skill of a man who relished going plural|publisher=The Guardian|date=June 1 2007|accessdate=2008-04-05]

Leaving Mars group as marketing and sales director for Pedigree Petfoods, he joined Archie Norman's management team at Asda as Marketing Director in 1992. Sent on Harvard University's Advanced Management Program, [citeweb|url=http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=QBBRTQMBK3XD0AKRGWCB5VQBKE0YOISW?id=499507|title=Allan Leighton with the Advanced Management Program|publisher=Harvard Business|date=May 31,1997|accessdate=2008-04-05] Leighton's style was simplistic and very much in touch with the staff, including wearing a badge like all other staff, stating: "Allan - happy to help." Over almost a decade Norman and Leighton transformed Adsa from a £500m company that was on its knees: "We created this culture in Asda which was, we were the underdogs, we were going to fight back." Having effectively copied the successful model of United States retailer Wal-Mart (after Leighton spent time in Wal-Mart's base of Bentonville, Arkansas, John T. Walton had been to Leighton's home), after he replaced the departed Norman in 1996, Leighton sold the business to Wal-Mart over Kingfisher plc for £6.7 billion in 1999: [citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3115042.stm|title=Profile: Allan Leighton|publisher=BBC News|date=4 December, 2003|accessdate=2008-04-05] Sir Geoff Mulcahy, Kingfisher boss at the time, hasn't spoken to Leighton since.

Leighton walked out in 2000 looking for a new challenge, and whenever asked what he was doing next, Leighton would always reply: "I am going plural." To this ends he took on a number of different roles:
*Non-executive Chairmanship of Royal Mail. He first act was to consign the new brand of Consignia to the bin, his second was to appoint CEO Adam Crozier. The pair, known to the Unions as "Laurel and Hardy," claim to have since taken £12.5 billion and 50,000 people out of the organisation. Resultantly, the business that was losing £1m a day, is profitable with its best ever service levels. Leighton pay is £20,000pa
*Advising friend Sir Philip Green at BHS. Leighton tried to buy Green out in 2007, but Green rejected the approach
*Non-executive Chairman of Lastminute.com, advising Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Foxciteweb|url=http://cws.huginonline.com/L/131840/PR/200010/874328_5_2.html|title=Allan Leighton Appointed Chairman of lastminute.com|publisher=Lastminute.com|date=October 2000|accessdate=2008-04-05]
*Advising friend Sir James Dyson, where he is on the board of Dyson
*Advising friend and eventual EMI buyer Guy Hands
*Advising Rupert and James Murdoch at BSkyB, by becoming a non-executive director where he is paid £50,000pa

Other posts have included non-executive at housebuilder Wilson Connolly and power company Scottish Power, [citeweb|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=969474&capId=715240&previousCapId=91031&previousTitle=News%20Corp.|title=Allan leighton|publisher=Business Week|accessdate=2008-04-05] and Chairman of fitness chain Cannons Health Clubs where he wrote a weekly internal newsletter entitled "thoughts from the Jacuzzi."

Currently based half of the time in Toronto, Canada, he is advising retail magnate Galen Weston and his son (G1 and G2, as Leighton calls them) on Canadian retail chain Loblaw Companies (for which he is being paid C$1million),citeweb|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article3688426.ece|title=Allan Leighton keeps running|publisher=The Sunday Times |date=5th April, 2008|accessdate=2008-04-05] and is Deputy Chairman of Selfridges & Co. On April 21, 2008, Loblaw Companies announced that Leighton will take on the role of President of the company, replacing Mark Foote.

Leighton has made few television appearances, but is currently the "mentor" in Five's show "Breaking into Tesco."'

Charity

Leighton is chairman of Business in the Community.citeweb|url=http://www.bitc.org.uk/who_we_are/our_board_and_governance/board_of_trustee_directors/allan_leighton.html|title=Allan Leighton|publisher=Business in the Community|accessdate=2008-04-05] Leighton loves sport, and although previously a skier, his knees still allow him to enjoy running - around 17miles a week in preparation for completing the London Marathon for a second time, in aid of Breast Cancer Care. Leighton has made a one-man bid to raise £1m for Breast Cancer Care, the charity to which he pledges all his earnings from television, speeches and his book "On Leadership."

Personal life

Married to Anne but presently separated, the couple have three children. Leighton has homes in Amersham, Middlesex (where he attends Church in Southall), [citeweb|url=http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=41497|title=Interview with Allan Leighton|publisher=Church Times|accessdate=2008-04-05] and Toronto, Canada. Leighton doesn’t do lunch - “I come from the Ken Morrison school of lunch: cheese and onion crisps and a Kitkat.”

He supports Leeds United (where he was Deputy Chairman), Leicester Tigers rugby team, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club and the Toronto Maple Leafs ice-hockey team.

Ten Golden Rules of Business

Leighton's Ten Golden Rules of Business: [citeweb|url=http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/06959143454127845233/allan-leighton-royal-mail.html|title=Allan Leighton (Royal Mail)|publisher=growingbusiness.co.uk|date=12th September, 2003|accessdate=2008-04-05]

*1) Keep it simple
*2) Focus on execution
*3) Listen to your operators
*4) Think small. Small is big
*5) Less often is more
*6) Your people come first
*7) Think like a customer
*8) If in doubt, do the right thing....
*9) ....but then do things right
*10) Remember, EGO stands for "edging good out"

References

External links

* [http://www.onleadership.co.uk Onleadership.co.uk - Leighton's personal website]
* [http://www.going-plural.com/index.html Going-plural.com/index.html - Leighton's website on the philosophy of "going plural"]
*imdb|id=2704865|name=Allan Leighton
* [http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article3688426.ece The Sunday Times - Allan Leighton keeps running]