Turnround man back in public eye

Archie Norman’s appointment at ITV, cheered by both investors and analysts, brings him back into the public eye and the business of turning round troubled companies.

His reputation was cemented at Asda, which he took from the brink of bankruptcy in 1991 to be the UK’s second-biggest supermarket. It was sold to Walmart for £6.5bn in 1999.

Mr Norman started his career in retail at Woolworths, where he became the youngest finance director in the FTSE 100.

Elected Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells in 1997, he became deputy chairman and chief executive of the party and sat on the opposition frontbenches. But his political career was short.

“Archie is extremely bright but he never really succeeded as a politician and he left politics disenchanted,” said a person who knows him.

“He is good at being the boss and making tough decisions but the touchy feely side of politics, getting people on your side, is not the way he operates.”

In 2002 he moved to chair Energis, the troubled telecommunications company that was sold to Cable and Wireless.

He then set up investment vehicle Aurigo, which owns HSS, the tool hire business. He is also an adviser to Lazard and to Coles, the Australian supermarket chain.