Andy Bond

Andy Bond has had a good year. Many would argue that Asda is better placed than most to benefit during a recession and in its first quarter this year Asda recorded impressive underlying like-for-like growth of 8.4 per cent. Bond’s leadership style has been recognised beyond these shores and Asda is becoming increasingly influential within the Wal-Mart family.

The energetic chief executive was also ahead of much of the pack in terms of spotting the change in consumer habits and ensuring Asda was giving its customers what they needed.

Back in November, Bond said consumers were entering a new era – the era of frugality – and that the changing economic circumstances meant consumers were much more focused on price. He was also among the first of the grocers to scale back ready meals in favour of more emphasis on cooking from scratch.

Bond has also launched Asda Direct and revealed the retailer will open a home shopping centre designed to extend retail capacity in its busiest locations. Asda has a long way to go to catch up with Tesco’s online offer but Bond is pushing ahead with all guns blazing.