Asda appoints former Morrisons boss as chief executive as sales struggle

David Potts to take over immediately, as executive chair Allan Leighton steps back to non-executive strategic role

Asda has appointed the 69-year-old former boss of Morrisons, David Potts, as chief executive with immediate effect as it continues to struggle to lift sales.

The UK’s third largest supermarket said that 73-year-old executive chair Allan Leighton, who has been running the business since 2024, would now step back to a non-executive role focusing on “the long-term strategic agenda for the business”.

Potts, who began his career on the shop floor at Tesco aged 16 and worked at the UK’s biggest supermarket for decades eventually heading its UK business, went on to become chief executive of Morrisons between 2015 and 2023.