'It is not inevitable' Asda's chair on how he's keeping Aldi at bay

‘Is it not bloody inevitable’ that Asda will be overtaken by Aldi as the UK’s third biggest supermarket, the veteran retail boss Allan Leighton roars as he insists his turnaround of the ailing business is on track.

- Sarah Butler

Leighton, who returned to lead Asda after 20 years in November 2024, is attempting to defy the critics and revive the chain for the second time in his career.

About 18 months in as the company’s chair, grocery sales and market share for Asda, which has 580 supermarkets, 517 convenience stores and four standalone George outlets, continue to fall, according to industry data, despite well-publicised investments in keeping prices down.

In terms of market share, 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.

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.

The IT is now “stable”, he says, with only smaller jobs to do, availability has improved dramatically and a new deal with the online grocery technology firm Ocado will help modernise Asda’s online business from next year. Meanwhile, the business’s latest marketing campaign encourages shoppers to “take a fresh look” as Leighton says prices are coming down relative to competitors.

Pointing out a new tropical tree display for bananas, complete with fake parrots, which graces the entrance to the Killingbeck store, Leighton says it doesn’t just add fun to the store. It draws attention to a price cut and has helped drive a 10% increase in sales of this prime shopping list item, he says.