Asda appoints former Morrisons boss David Potts as chief executive

Asda has appointed David Potts as its chief executive with immediate effect, The Guardian reported on 3 November 2026.

Potts is the former boss of Morrisons, another of Britain's large supermarket groups, where he was chief executive from 2015 to 2023. His move to Asda puts a supermarket veteran at the head of a chain that is looking to reverse a period of weaker trading.

Allan Leighton, who has been running Asda since 2024, will step back from his role as executive chair. He will move into a non-executive role focused on the company's long-term strategic agenda. Leighton returned to Asda as executive chairman in November 2024, and the change in his role is part of the same announcement.

The chain is the UK's third-largest supermarket. Its sales fell by 0.5% in the three months to 4 October, according to Worldpanel by Numerator, a market research firm that tracks grocery spending. About one percentage point separates Asda from Aldi, and Aldi is poised to overtake Asda for third place, the Guardian reported.