Asda hires supermarket boss who sold Morrisons to private equity

Updated: 05:57 EDT, 3 November 2026 Asda has brought in the former boss of Morrisons who oversaw the sale of the rival supermarket to private equity.After a long search for a new chief executive, Britain’s third largest grocer said that David Potts has joined the ailing firm with immediate effect.For the past two years, the business has been run by retail veteran and former Asda boss Allan Leighton, who will now move into a non-executive chairman role.But analysts said they were unsure whether the appointment would 'move the needle' for Asda, which has battled falling sales since TDR Capital helped to finance a debt-fuelled £6.8billion takeover by the billionaire Issa brothers in 2021.It has since lost out to discounters Lidl and Aldi, and grappled with debt pressures and severe disruption linked to an IT upgrade.Leighton said that the group had ‘stabilised’ under his leadership - after last month reporting quarterly sales growth for the first time in more than two years. New Asda boss David Potts said that the supermarket has made 'good progress but significant opportunities remain'.And he said that Potts’ experience was ‘exactly what we now require for the next stage of our transformation’.Potts, who began his career at Tesco, said: 'Asda has long been a great business, one I’ve admired and traded against over many years.‘The business has made good progress but significant opportunities remain and I’m delighted and very proud to have been asked by Allan to lead the team.’Potts began his career at Tesco on the shop floor aged 16 and then worked his way up to run its Ireland business, its UK business and its Asia business. He was also on the board of the supermarket giant from 1998 to 2012.He led Morrisons from 2015 to 2023, a time period which included the group’s £10bn sale to private equity group Clayton Dubilier & Rice in 2021. Morrisons has also struggled in the wake of its debt-fuelled takeover and even lost its spot as Britain’s fifth biggest grocer to discounter Lidl.Potts ‘faces one of the toughest turnaround jobs in modern British retail at Asda, but his track record at Morrisons doesn't necessarily inspire absolute confidence,’ according to Jonathan de Mello, founder and CEO at retail consultancy JDM Retail.He said that both supermarkets ‘have perennially suffered from a lack of a truly distinctive offer and an inability to undercut the discounters on price, leaving them as the primary losers in the ongoing supermarket price wars.’He added: ‘Unless [Potts] can aggressively invest in a distinctive, value-driven strategy rather than relying on defensive cost-cutting, it is difficult to see how his appointment moves the needle for a business that remains deeply exposed in a hyper-competitive market.’Earlier this year, Leighton said that Asda was 'about a third' of the way through its recovery, which has seen the supermarket slash prices and upgrade its online operations.Leighton, who rejoined the Leeds-based retailer in November 2024, has warned that his revival plan will not be an overnight fix and slashing prices will hit profits.But he said there was pressure on prices due to the heatwave affecting crops this summer.Asda accounts revealed that pre-tax losses had widened from £599million in 2024 to £989million in 2025, as total sales fell 3.4 per cent to £25.9billion.DIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you