Tough Calls: Making the right decisions in challenging times

Allan Leighton began his career at Mars confectionery, where he rose to become group marketing director before leaving to join the loss-making ASDA supermarket chain. There he was credited with turning what he once described as a basket case into a highly successful company that was sold to US retail giant Wal-Mart for GBP6.7 billion in 1999. When he left his position as president and chief executive of Wal-Mart Europe, he famously coined the phrase 'going plural' as he took on non-executive positions at a string of companies, including lastminute.com, Leeds United, BHS, BSkyB and Selfridges. He was chairman of Royal Mail Group until 2009, and is currently non-executive director of BSkyB and George Weston, as well as deputy chairman of Selfridges & Co. His first book, On Leadership, was a bestseller when it appeared in 2007.

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