THE former chief executive of Asda, Allan Leighton, has been appointed chairman of Element Materials Technology, the company which acquired Edinburgh-based Exova Group in a £620 million deal earlier this year.
Mr Leighton ran Asda between 1996 and 2000, with his spell at the grocer coinciding with its £6.7 billion acquisition by Wal-Mart in 1999. He then served as executive chairman of Royal Mail between 2002 and 2009. Mr Leighton is currently the non-executive chairman of the Co-operative Group and non-executive chairman of Entertainment One and Wagamama.
Charles Noall, chief executive of London-based Element Materials Technology, said: “With the recent acquisition of Exova, Element has more than doubled in size and Allan’s wide-ranging experience in successfully leading large organizations through significant change will be a major asset to the business.”
