Allan Leighton
Allan Leighton (born 12 April 1953) is a British businessman, Chair of Asda, former chairman of The Co-operative Group, former CEO of Asda, former chief executive of Pandora, and former non-executive chairman of the Royal Mail prior to the breaking of the Horizon scandal. He is also the co-owner of Brackley Town F.C. Biography Allan Leighton was born on 12 April 1953 in Hereford, the son of a Co-op shop manager, and raised in Oxford. He thought about becoming a professional footballer, but broke his leg in six places aged 15. He supports Leeds United, where he was deputy chairman, Saracens rugby team, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club and the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team. Career Leighton joined Lloyds Bank as a cashier in 1972. He left to join Mars UK in Slough as a salesman in 1974 and worked at the company for eighteen years, where his colleagues included Justin King, David Cheesewright and Richard Baker. He was appointed General Sales Manager for the UK Gro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hereford
Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With a population of 61,900 in 2024, it is the largest settlement in Herefordshire. An early town charter from 1189, granted by Richard I of England, describes it as "Hereford in Wales". Hereford has been recognised as a city since time immemorial, with the status being reconfirmed in October 2000. Hereford has been a civil parish since 2000. Products from Hereford include cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals and sausage rolls, as well as the Hereford breed of cattle. Toponymy The Herefordshire edition of Cambridge County Geographies states "a Welsh derivation of Hereford is more probable than a Saxon one", but the name "Hereford" is also said to come from the Anglo-Saxon "''here''", an army or formation of s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Slough
Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the population of the town was 143,184. The wider Borough of Slough had a population of 158,500. Slough's population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the United Kingdom, attracting people from across the country and the world for labour since the 1920s, which has helped shape it into a major trading centre. In 2017, unemployment stood at 1.4%, one-third the UK average of 4.5%. Slough has the highest concentration of UK HQs of global companies outside London. Slough Trading Estate is the largest industrial estate in single private ownership in Europe, with over 17,000 jobs in 400 businesses. Blackberry, McAfee, Burger King, DHL, Telefonica and Lego have head offices in the town. History The name was first recorded in 1195 as ' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Weston Family
The Weston family is a prominent family of businesspeople that was founded in Canada and eventually developed global business interests, primarily in the food and retail sectors. The family operations began with the purchase of a bakery in 1884 by American-born Canadian George Weston in Toronto, Ontario. Over the course of subsequent decades, his descendants also established themselves in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States. Through George Weston Limited and various holding companies, the Canadian branch of the Weston family currently owns or controls over 200 companies, including the Loblaws supermarket chain and the Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy chain. Among their other businesses, members of this branch own or control several additional retailers, including Holt Renfrew in Canada. They previously owned other upscale department stores in the Selfridges Group, including Selfridges in the UK, Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, and De Bijenkorf in the Netherlan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Post Office Limited
Post Office Limited, formerly Post Office Counters Limited and commonly known as the Post Office, is a state-owned retail post office company in the United Kingdom that provides a wide range of postal and non-postal related products including postage stamps, banking, insurance, bureau de change A bureau de change (plural bureaux de change, both ; British English) or currency exchange (Comparison of American and British English, American English) is a business where people can exchange one currency for another. Nomenclature Original ... and identity verification services to the public through its nationwide network of around 11,500 branches. Most of these branch post offices (%) are run by Franchising, franchise partners or by independent business people known as subpostmasters; Post Office Limited directly manages the remaining 1%, known as Crown post offices. Since 2020, a public enquiry has been under way into the company's actions which led to between 700 and 900 subpo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Business In The Community
Business in the Community (BITC) is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, Corporate social responsibility, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the The Prince's Charities, Prince's Charities of Charles III, King Charles III (formerly the Prince of Wales). BITC works with companies in the UK and internationally. Background BITC was set up in 1982 and its current CEO is Kieran Harding. Prior to this, Mary Macleod was the CEO from 2023 to 2025. Amanda Mackenzie OBE was the CEO from 2016 to 2023. Julia Cleverdon, Dame Julia Cleverdon was CEO from 1992 to 2008 and is now vice president, and Stephen Howard was CEO from 2008 to 2016. Each of BITC's campaigns is managed by a leadership team, made up and chaired by senior business leaders. Leaders include Steven Holliday, chief executive of National Grid plc; Mark Allen, chief executive of Dairy Crest Group; Paul Drechsler, chairman and chief executive of Wates Group; Richard Howson, chief ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other countries. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded in 1962 by brothers Sam Walton and Bud Walton, James "Bud" Walton in nearby Rogers, Arkansas. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses. Walmart has 10,586 stores and clubs in 24 countries, operating under 46 different names. Walmart is the List of largest companies by revenue, world's largest company by revenue, according to the Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 list in October 2022. Walmart is also the List of largest United States–based employers globally, largest private employer in the world, with 2.1 million employees. It is a publicly traded family-owned business (the largest such business in the world), as the company ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kingfisher Plc
Kingfisher plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was founded in 1982 as Paternoster Stores Ltd, to conduct a buyout of the British Woolworths (United Kingdom), Woolworths chain. In March 1983, Paternoster changed its name to Woolworth Holdings plc. Woolworths already owned B&Q, and the company expanded through subsequent acquisitions of companies such as Superdrug and Comet (retailer), Comet. The business acquired Screwfix in July 1999, which is now the United Kingdom's largest multi channel retailer of trade tools, accessories and hardware products. The company was led from January 1984, until his retirement in December 2002, by Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy. Largely through his influence, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyman John Harvard (clergyman), John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Harvard was founded and authorized by the Massachusetts General Court, the governing legislature of Colonial history of the United States, colonial-era Massachusetts Bay Colony. While never formally affiliated with any Religious denomination, denomination, Harvard trained Congregationalism in the United States, Congregational clergy until its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized in the 18th century. By the 19th century, Harvard emerged as the most prominent academic and cultural institution among the Boston B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Archie Norman (businessman)
Archibald John Norman (born 1 May 1954) is a British businessman and politician. He is the only person to have been chairman of an FTSE 100 company and a Member of the House of Commons (MP) at the same time. From January 2010 to January 2016, Norman was the chairman of ITV plc. He succeeded Robert Swannell as chairman of Marks & Spencer in September 2017. Early life and education Born the second of five sons of two doctors, Archie Norman was educated at Charterhouse, the University of Minnesota, Emmanuel College, Cambridge and (after a short period at Citigroup), at Harvard Business School, where he obtained an MBA. Career Business career Norman joined McKinsey & Company on graduation, where William Hague (future British Foreign Secretary) was one of his protégés. He was the youngest-ever partner at McKinsey aged 28. He then held directorships at Geest and Railtrack, before becoming group finance director at Britain's then largest retailer, Kingfisher plc at 32. From ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pedigree Petfoods
Pedigree Petfoods is a subsidiary of the American group Mars Inc. specializing in pet food, with factories in England at Melton Mowbray and Birstall, Leeds; and offices at McLean, Virginia. History In 1934, Mars Limited, a division of the large American confectionery company, that had been based in Slough since 1932, acquired Chappel Brothers in Manchester. This company took low-quality meat and canned it as dog food, branded as "Chappie".Hudson, Kenneth: Industrial history from the air, Cambridge University Press 1984 New dog food brands Pal and Lassie were introduced during the 1950s.Mars Petcare Mars United Kingdom (retrieved 17 Oct 2011) Mars Inc. In 1968, Mars took over Kal Kan Foods of[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it shares Portugal-Spain border, the longest uninterrupted border in the European Union; to the south and the west is the North Atlantic Ocean; and to the west and southwest lie the Macaronesia, Macaronesian archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, which are the two Autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous regions of Portugal. Lisbon is the Capital city, capital and List of largest cities in Portugal, largest city, followed by Porto, which is the only other Metropolitan areas in Portugal, metropolitan area. The western Iberian Peninsula has been continuously inhabited since Prehistoric Iberia, prehistoric times, with the earliest signs of Human settlement, settlement dating to 5500 BC. Celts, Celtic and List of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |