John Hardman
John Hardman (born 8 October 1939)[1] is a British businessman, and a former Managing Director and Chairman of Asda.
Early life
He was born and grew up in Liverpool, the only son with six daughters. He attended the all-male grammar school Quarry Bank High School. He studied Economics at the University of Liverpool from 1959-62, gaining a BComm. He trained to be a chartered accountant.[2]
Career
RCA
He worked for RCA in America from 1966, looking after a USA plant making television tubes until 1973.
Asda
At Asda he was Finance Director from 1981 and Chief Operating Officer from 1983.
He became Managing Director in 1984,[3] staying until 1991. He took the number of stores from 101 in 1985 to 204 in 1991. In 1985 Asda was the UK's third-largest supermarket chain.
In 1985 he brought in a new design of store, replacing the cream and brown colour scheme for apple green and orange. The entrance area would have concessionary stores.[4]
He became Executive Chairman from January 1988 of Asda Group.[5] He earned £231,000 in 1989.
He resigned as Chairman on Monday 10 June 1991.[6] Graham Stow, the chief executive of Asda Stores, also resigned. The stores subsequently were run by the two man directors.
He appeared in the Channel Five 2020 documentary Inside Asda: Bigger, Better, Cheaper?.
References
- Companies House
- Times 'Business Profile' Saturday December 8 1990, page 41
- "Hardman's race to catch up Asda's rivals goes on apace". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- Times Wednesday 6 November 1985, page 21
- Times Friday 11 December 1987, page 23
- Times Tuesday 11 June 1991, page 25