12 Facts About Allan Leighton

Allan Leighton was born on 12 April 1953 and is a British businessman, chairman of The Co-operative Group since February 2015, former CEO of Asda, former chief executive of Pandora, and former non-executive chairman of the Royal Mail.

Allan Leighton was born in Hereford, the son of a Co-op shop manager, and raised in Oxford.

Allan Leighton thought about becoming a professional footballer, but broke his leg in six places aged 15.

Allan Leighton attended Magdalen College School, Brackley and graduated from Oxford Polytechnic.

Allan Leighton left to join Mars UK in Slough as a salesman in 1974 and worked at the company for eighteen years, where his colleagues included Justin King, David Cheesewright and Richard Baker.

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Allan Leighton was appointed General Sales Manager for the UK Grocery Division in 1987, and subsequently, managing director of Mars in Ireland and Portugal.

Allan 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.

In 2009, it was reported that an £18bn merger would happen between Asda and Kingfisher plc, which would see Allan Leighton become deputy chief executive of the enlarged group.

Allan Leighton left Asda in November 2000 and has held a number of different business roles, including:.

In 2004, Allan Leighton was awarded an honorary degree from Cranfield University.

Allan Leighton completed the 2008 London Marathon in 5 hours, 55 minutes and 27 seconds in aid of Breast Cancer Care.

Allan Leighton has bid to raise £1million for Breast Cancer Care, the charity to which he pledges all his earnings from television, speeches and his book "On Leadership".