‘It’s not inevitable’: Asda chair on how his turnaround will hold off Aldi threat

“I t’s not bloody inevitable,” that Asda will be overtaken by Aldi as the UK’s third biggest supermarket, Allan Leighton roars as the veteran retail boss insists his turnaround of the ailing business is on track. Leighton, the chair of Asda, who returned to lead the business after 20 years in November 2024, is attempting to defy the critics and revive Asda for the second time in his career. About 18 months in, grocery sales and market share for the retailer, which has 580 supermarkets, 517 convenience stores and four stand-alone George outlets, continue to fall according to industry data, despite well-publicised investments in keeping prices down . In terms of market share, its rival Aldi is now less than one percentage point away from overtaking Asda, where sales and profits have dived since a debt-fuelled £6.8bn takeover in early 2021 by Blackburn’s billionaire Issa brothers and the private equity company TDR Capital. Supermarket sales chart Wearing a pink baseball cap with a banana logo and brightly coloured trainers as he shows the Guardian around Asda’s Killingbeck store in Leeds, Leighton, 73, remains optimistic that by year three the business will have turned a corner. He admits that “Project Future” – the transfer of Asda’s technology from former owner Walmart’s systems to its own at an estimated cost of close to £1bn – left gaps on shelves and put plans six months behind schedule. …