Mr Leighton has been at the firm for nearly four years

His successor will be Brian Collie, currently a Lastminute board member and a BAA director responsible for global retail and e-commerce sales.

Mr Leighton was appointed chairman of Lastminute in February 2000 and has seen the firm emerge as one of the main survivors of the dotcom boom.

"We are sorry to see him go," said chief executive Brent Hoberman.

Cutting back

Mr Leighton said that while his involvement at Lastminute had been "enormously rewarding", he believed that "now is the right time in Lastminute.com's evolution for me to hand over".

As well as announcing his departure from Lastminute, Mr Leighton has also stepped down from a non-executive position at fitness chain Cannons and a directorship at Dyson.

However, the former Asda boss will continue with his chairmanships at the Royal Mail and retailer Bhs, and he is also on the board of satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

A report in the Financial Times on Tuesday said Mr Leighton had been linked with a move back into food retailing, possibly working on a bid for the struggling Sainsbury's group.