UK: Ailing Asda announce job cuts
UK supermarket Asda is set to suffer job losses in the near future as the retailer posts further losses over Christmas
Print18 January 2016
UK grocery retailer Asda, which is owned by US giant Walmart, has announced it will make cuts at its Leeds head office amounting to “the low hundreds.” The Irish Times reports that the cuts come as the retailers posts the worst results out of the major UK retailers – Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s and Tesco – during the crucial Christmas trading period.
All of the “Big Four” have experienced a slump in the past year, resulting in pressure for them all to undergo permanent structural change. An Asda spokesman said that this also meant they must change “the way they do business.
“Today, we have started to talk to our colleagues in Head Office functions about what this means for them,” the spokesman continued. “We have made some difficult but neccessary decisions, but we must discuss these with our colleagues before we talk about them publicly.”
Industry experts predict that Asda’s market share will have dropped by around 3.5% over the Christmas period, compared with a year ago. This will follow a similar slump over the previous November period.
Asda has been struggling to get back in control of its numbers for some time. An overhaul was announced in October which would see it slow expansion in London and on its plans to open more petrol stations, as well as rolling back its click-and-collect scheme. All of these were intended to cut costs.
However, the company said it will contonue to revamp 95 of its largest stores, and spend more money on securing low prices.
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