Born as 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 Master of Business Administration.
On 18 November 2009, Norman was announced as the new chairman of Independent Television PLC He took up his post in January 2010. Business career
Norman joined McKinsey & Company on graduation, where William Hague (future British Foreign Secretary) was one of his protégéson
He then held directorships at Geest and Railtrack, before becoming group finance director at then Britain"s largest retailer, Kingfisher plc at 32.
Within five years, he was group chief executive of ASDA and by 42 he was Chairman. In 1991 he applied for and gained the Chief Executive"s position at Asda - the only applicant for a near bankrupt business.
From 1991 until 2000, Norman was Chief Executive and then Chairman of Asda, the large supermarket chain, and with Allan Leighton is credited with turning it around and making it the second largest in the United Kingdom, before its sale to Wal-Mart in June 1999. From the early nineties, Norman was also chairman of The Children"s Trust.
In 1998 he passed the chairmanship to Sir Brian Hill.
Political career
In 1996 on the advice of Francis Maude, Norman decided to apply for the Conservative-safe seat of Tunbridge Wells, soon to be vacated by Sir Patrick Mayhew. After the heavy Conservative defeat in the 1997 election, Norman supported William Hague"s bid for leadership, becoming Chief Executive of the Conservative Party and then served as a shadow minister for the environment in 1999. A year later he was promoted to the Conservative frontbench as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions, where he was up against John Prescott on the Labour front bench.
After leaving the Shadow Cabinet in 2001 he founded the think tank, Policy Exchange with Francis Maude.
In 2002 Norman became Chairman of Energis having led a consortium of banks in the purchase and refinance of the United Kingdom arm from the administrators of Energis Plc. He stood down as Member of Parliament at the May 2005 general election.
Return to business
On leaving Parliament, Norman set up Aurigo Management, a private equity firm primarily focussed on retail/consumer industries. In July 2007 Aurigo bought tool hire retailer HSS Hire for £310 million, from 3i.
On 18 November 2009, Norman was announced as the new chairman of Independent Television PLC
In November 2007 Norman advised Wesfarmers on the acquisition of Coles Group and has since overseen the turnaround of Coles in Australia. Other
Norman sits on the Board of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. He is on the Board of the National Institute of Economie and Social Research, London, United Kingdom, has an Honorary Degree from Leeds Metropolitan University, was a Director of the Judge Institute, has been elected to the Marketing Society Hall of Fame, and been voted Retailer of the Year and Yorkshire Businessman of the Year.
Personal life
Married with one daughter, he has homes in Yorkshire and London.
His interests include farming, opera, fishing and tennis.
52nd United Kingdom Parliament. 53rd United Kingdom Parliament]
He is at present the only person to have been a FTSE 100 chairman and a Member of the House of Commons (Member of Parliament) at the same time. Norman was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Tunbridge Wells in England, in the 1997 general election, with a majority of 7,506.
