Asda has named a former Morrisons boss as its new chief executive as the embattled grocer looks to accelerate its turnaround efforts.

David Potts, who also spent four decades with Tesco, will take over the reins with immediate effect, prompting veteran boss Allan Leighton to step back into a non-executive chairman role two years after he returned to the firm.

This comes as Asda sees sales growth for the first time in years, amid huge pressure from discount grocers Aldi and Lidl to keep its prices low and boost the quality of its food offering.

David Potts began his career at Tesco, working his way up from the deli counter to the boss of its Asian operations during a 40-year stint, before becoming chief executive of Morrisons in 2015.

He remained at the helm of Morrisons until it was bought by private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice in 2023, when he was replaced by Rami Baitiéh.

Allan Leighton, who was originally Asda’s chief executive during its 1990s heyday, returned to the supermarket giant as executive chairman in November 2024, tasked with returning the struggling company to its best years.

About-turn for Asda

Potts’s appointment marks a significant shift in direction for the supermarket, which had said it would eventually appoint a chief executive from inside the company’s existing leadership group.

In August, Leighton told that the appointment of a chief executive was “not imminent”. He said: “The preference would be to appoint a CEO from inside the company, and we have a very highly talented group of executives, and my hope is that somebody would emerge from the group.

“But that is not imminent yet because we’re still working with the group that we’ve got to deliver what we’re doing. But that’s the intent.”

Tuesday’s announcement will bring an end to Leighton’s stint as executive chair just two years since his appointment. Leighton said over the summer that his turnaround efforts had brought Asda to the “foothills of recovery”.

He said on Tuesday: “I am really excited to have appointed David as Group CEO. Over the last two years, we have stabilised the business and returned it to some growth and begun to establish Asda as ‘more than a supermarket’ through our Formula for Growth strategy.

“David has an outstanding record in our industry, his experience is exactly what we now require for the next stage of our transformation and beyond and it will be great to work with him.”

Potts said that “significant opportunities” remain in Asda’s turnaround, though he praised the business’s “good progress” under Leighton.

He said: I’m delighted and very proud to have been asked by Allan to lead the team. Providing value to families across the UK has always been in Asda’s DNA and by making improvements to the shopping trip every week, which customers can experience and feel in their pockets, we will revitalise the business and bring benefits for all our stakeholders, including our 116,296 very hard-working colleagues.”

Asda posted 0.2 per cent sales growth over the summer following more than two years of decline. The group fell to a £989m pre-tax loss in 2025, though its net debt fell by £500m to £3.1bn.