Archie wheels in Halfords ace for Oz turnaround job

Archie Norman today lured one of his top former Asda lieutenants away from his job running the Halfords bikes and car parts chain to turn around struggling Australian supermarkets giant Coles.

Ian McLeod, 49, will quit his current job on 29 February and move Down Under to what could prove a hugely lucrative job. It will be the Scotsman's third major turnaround challenge in his career, following Asda and Halfords, which required major surgery when he was brought in to run it by private-equity group CVC.

McLeod said: "I guess I'll have to start learning the Australian lingo, but I'm thoroughly looking forward to working with Archie again."

Norman, famed for his turnaround of Asda, has spent the past year advising Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers on its takeover battle for Coles, which it won last year.

Coles has been lagging market leader Woolworths for years, much as Asda was the weakling in the UK in the 1980s before Norman, McLeod and Co revived it. Wal-Mart bought the business in 1999, and McLeod stayed on for a few years before becoming chief executive at Halfords. Since 2003, Halfords has increased like-for-like sales by 30% and floated on the stock market.

Halfords chairman Richard Pym said: "We are very, very disappointed he is going, but he leaves Halfords in extremely good shape."

Halfords, which today reported like-for-like sales up 2% in the past 17 weeks, has appointed headhunter The Miles Partnership and installed finance director Nick Wharton and trading director Paul McClenaghan as acting joint managing directors.

In his new job, McLeod's basic salary will jump from his current £375,000 to £914,000 plus bonus.