The UK’s third largest supermarket bought out the two multi-million pound turnover manufacturers at the beginning of the year and they were added to the portfolio of Asda’s subsidiary International Procurement and Logistics based in Normanton.
They were previously operated as a joint venture for five years.
The company launched Project Renewal for its stores as part of its response to falling sales. Asda reviewed 5,000 jobs as part of proposed store changes that included the closure of canteens, photo centres and in-store clothing counters.
45-day consultation
It entered the into a 45-day consultation period which is now nearing its end.
Asda revealed that the review had led to 280 store redundancies. These included photo-centres and ‘Create your own pizza’ counters, which are not as widely used in its smaller stores as its superstores.
An Asda spokesperson told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “Our focus throughout this process has been on making sure that our stores and services are fit for the future and our colleagues have been an integral part of the decision-making process.”
‘Leave the business’
“Of the 5,000 colleagues who entered into consultation, 280 have now taken the decision to leave the business.
“We are confident these changes will be effective in making our stores easier to shop in and better positioned to delivering the low prices, quality and good value customers tell us they want.”
The supermarket took full ownership of the meat firms in January, after a five-year partnership with co-owner Max Smith-Hillard.
Asda sales have been struggling due to a number of factors, according to Shore Capital analysts Clive Black and Darren Shirley. They listed: unfavourable market conditions, deflation, the re-awakening of Tesco and the stabilisation of Morrisons under the widely praised leadership of ceo David Potts.
All the big four supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, and Morrisons – continue to battle the growing popularity of the hard discount stores Aldi and Lidl.
Asda’s jobs review and its meat firms
- Asda reviewed 5,000 jobs and 280 staff took voluntary redundancy
- Forza AW: turnover tops £300M, achieving a year-on-year increase of 9.3% in 2014
- Kober: Turnover rose by £1.4M to £140.9M in 2014.