Asda

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For other uses, see Asda (disambiguation).
Asda Stores Ltd. Asda logo
Type
Private company subsidiary
Industry
Retail
Founded
19 February 1949[1]
Headquarters
Asda House, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Number of locations
568[2]
Key people
Andy Clarke
(President & CEO)
Alex Russo
(CFO)
Hayley Tatum
(Executive People Director)
Mark Ibbotson
(Retail Director)
Products
Grocery, General merchandise, financial services
Revenue
see Walmart
Operating income
638 million
Employees
175,000
Parent Corinth Investment Services of Leeds Limited (Owned by Walmart)
Website
www.asda.co.uk
A bust of founder Peter Asquith outside Asda House in Leeds.
Asda Stores Ltd. (stylised as ASDA) is a British-based, American-owned supermark
et chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial s
ervices. It also has a mobile phone network (via the EE network as of 25 Novembe
r 2013), Asda Mobile. Its head office is at Asda House in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
[3]
In 1999, Asda became a subsidiary of the American retail company Walmart and tod
ay is the UK's second largest chain by market share.[4] Asda's marketing promoti
ons are usually based solely on price, with Asda promoting itself under the slog
an Britain's Lowest Priced Supermarket, 16 Years Running. As a wholly owned divi
sion of Walmart, Asda is not required to declare quarterly or half-yearly earnin
gs. It submits full accounts to Companies House.
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6

History
Marketing
Public relations spending
Asda Smart Price
George clothing
Stores
6.1 Current stores
6.2 Former stores
7 Distribution
8 Other interests
9 Loyalty card
10 Internet operations
11 Financial performance
12 Employee relations
13 Controversies
13.1 Dairy price fixing
13.2 2013 horsemeat scandal
14 Asda Mobile
15 Awards

16 See also
17 References
18 External links
History
Asda trace their history back to the 1920s when a group of Yorkshire dairy farme
rs formed Hindell's Dairy Farmers Ltd.[5] After a series of acquisitions, the na
me was changed to Associated Dairies & Farm Stores Limited in 1949 in Leeds. The
adoption of the Asda name occurred in 1965 with the merger of the Asquith chain
of three supermarkets and Associated Dairies; Asda is an abbreviation of Asquit
h and Dairies, often capitalised.[6]
Asda took advantage of the abolition of retail price maintenance in order to off
er large-scale, low cost supermarkets, aided by the takeover of the GEM retail,
including the first out-of-town store in West Bridgford in November 1964.[7] Asd
a increased GEM's 6,000 per week sales to around 60,000 per week in just six month
s.[7]
For a short time in the 1980s, Asda Stores Ltd was a subsidiary of Asda-MFI plc
following a merger between the two companies. Other companies in the group were
Associated Dairies Limited, the furniture retailer MFI and Allied Carpets. After
the sale of MFI and Allied Carpets the company name changed to Asda Group plc.
The dairy division was sold in a management buyout and renamed Associated Fresh
Foods,[8] meaning that Asda has since had no connection with any of the firms fr
om which its name was derived.
With stores mainly based in the North of England, the newly focused food retail
group expanded further south in 1989 by buying the large format stores of rival
Gateway Superstores for 705 million. This move overstretched the company and it f
ound itself in trouble trying to sell too many different products.[9] As a resul
t it was forced to raise money from shareholders in both 1991 and 1993. It reviv
ed under the leadership of Archie Norman, who later became a front bench Conserv
ative MP. CEO from 1991, Norman was chairman of the company during the period 19
96 99, and remodelled the store along the lines of the world's largest retailer,[1
0] America's Walmart, sending protg Allan Leighton to Bentonville in the north-wes
t of Arkansas to assess and photograph the systems and marketing which Walmart h
ad deployed.[11]
When Norman left the company to pursue his political career, he was replaced by
Leighton. Walmart wanted to enter the UK market so CEO Bob Martin lobbied Britis
h Prime Minister Tony Blair on planning issues.[12] Asda, which at the time owne
d 229 stores, was purchased by Walmart on 26 July 1999 for 6.7 billion, trumping
a rival bid from Kingfisher plc.[13]
Following the takeover, Asda moved its headquarters to the then newly opened "As
da House". This building was one of the first of the new large office blocks to
open as part of the redevelopment of the huge area south of the River Aire in Le
eds city centre, in the Holbeck district, West Yorkshire.
In 2005, amid reported concerns within Walmart about a slippage in market share,
partially due to a resurgent Sainsbury's, Asda's chief executive, Tony De Nunzi
o left, and was replaced by Andy Bond. In 2005, Asda expanded into Northern Irel
and by purchasing 12 former Safeway stores from Morrisons.[14][15]
In November 2008, there were reports that Asda was to buy Irish retailer Dunnes
Stores.[16]
In 2009, Walmart 'sold' Asda for 6.9 billion to their Leeds-based investment subs
idiary Corinth Services Limited.[17] The deal, which took place in August, was d

escribed as part of a group restructuring and means Asda remains under the control
of Walmart, since Corinth are themselves a subsidiary of Walmart.[18]
On 11 May 2010, Andy Clarke, a former manager of an Asda store, who was also the
chief operating officer, was appointed as chief executive officer.[19]
In May 2010, Asda bought all of Netto's UK Operations in a 778 million deal. The
deal provided the company with smaller, more localised stores, with most Netto s
tores being only one fifth the size of the average Asda supermarket. In Septembe
r 2010 Asda was required to sell 47 of the existing 194 Netto stores following a
ruling by the Office of Fair Trading. The rebranding of Netto stores to Asda be
gan in early 2011.[20]
In February 2011, Asda announced the purchase of 6 stores from Focus DIY, which
were converted into supermarkets later that year.[21]
Marketing
In the "Asda price" campaign,[22] customers tap their trouser pocket twice, prod
ucing a 'chinking' sound as the coins that Asda's low prices have supposedly lef
t in their pockets knock together. The pocket tap ads were launched in 1977 and
over the next 30 years a range of celebrities have been "tappers", including Jul
ie Walters, Michael Owen and sitcom actor Leonard Rossiter.[23] In 1980 Carry On
actress Hattie Jacques appeared in the advert as a school crossing patrol offic
er.[24]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, before the reintroduction of the tap pocket c
ampaign, advertising for Asda had featured the Fairground Attraction song "Perfe
ct". In 2004, Sharon Osbourne was selected to be part of a new marketing campaig
n by Asda; her last advert was aired in August 2005.
From 1990 to 1992, they were the sponsors of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. during two
seasons in modern times when they won promotion from the Football League Second
Division as Football League Cup winners and finished third in the Football Leag
ue First Division (last season before the creation of the FA Premier League).
In 1997, the Spice Girls licensed their name and image to Asda for the creation
of over 40 different Spice Items for Christmas 1997, including goods such as par
ty supplies, official merchandise, and Spice Girl branded kids' meals in the sto
res' restaurants.[25] The Spice Girls reportedly earned 1 million for this sponso
rship deal.[26]
In the smiley face "rollback" campaign, also used in Walmart advertisements, a C
GI smiley face bounced from price tag to price tag, knocking them down as custom
ers watch. The focus of these campaigns is to portray Asda as the most affordabl
e supermarket in the country, a claim that was challenged by competitors, especi
ally Aldi. In 2006, Asda advertising was themed around singing children and the
slogan "More for you for less", and the previous tap of the trouser pocket adver
tising was reduced to a double-tap on a stylised 'A', still producing the 'chink
ing' sound. This included an advert during the 2006 FIFA World Cup featuring the
England football player Michael Owen in an advert with the children singing Vin
daloo. In 2007, the advertising campaign abandoned the rollback hook in favour o
f featuring celebrities including Victoria Wood and Paul Whitehouse working as A
sda employees.
For Christmas 2007, Asda reintroduced the "That's Asda price" slogan[27] as well
as the famous 'jingle' to some of its adverts, this can also be heard on its in
-store radio station 'Asda FM'.
In 2008, the company re-focused on price with a "Why Pay More?" campaign both on
TV and in stores. Asda TV commercials in April 2009 focused on price comparison

s between Asda and its rivals, using information from mySupermarket. The music b
eing used in these adverts is the Billy Childish version of the classic Dad's Ar
my theme tune. The old Asda jingle is not included in these,[28] but appeared in
a 2008 Christmas advert.[29] Asda returned to the former pocket tap adverts in
March/April 2009, with the slogan "Saving You Money Every Day."
Asda has been winner of The Grocer magazine "Lowest Price Supermarket" Award for
the past 16 years,[30] and uses this to promote itself across the UK. In August
2005, rival supermarket chain Tesco challenged Asda's ability to use the claim
that it was the cheapest supermarket in the country, by complaining to the Adver
tising Standards Agency. The ASA upheld the complaint[31] and ordered Asda to st
op using it, citing that The Grocer magazine survey was based on limited and unr
epresentative evidence as it examined the price of just 33 products, that the su
rvey did not study low-cost supermarkets such as Aldi, and that their price chec
ker, mySupermarket, doesn't include Morrisons, which was mentioned a few times.
As a result Asda no longer cites itself as "Officially Britain's lowest priced s
upermarket", instead using "Winner: Britain's lowest price supermarket award".
False advertising
In 2010, a national press ad for Asda on a double-page spread was headed "The bi
g Asda Rollback" with headings stating "Lower prices on everything you buy, week
in week out" with equal prominence to a column headed "Lower prices than any ot
her supermarket"; that the arrows underneath the heading "Lower prices than any
other supermarket" compared prices at Asda with prices at Sainsbury's, Tesco and
Morrisons. The ASA ruled that in the context in which it appeared, it was ambig
uous in that it could be interpreted either as referring to price reductions tha
t had taken place within Asda or to price comparisons with the named competitors
. In addition, because the ad did not explain that the price reductions had not
necessarily taken place in the week that immediately preceded the ad, they concl
uded that the headings which stated the number of price reductions that had take
n place in each product category were misleading. The ASA also concluded that th
e "Lower prices than any other supermarket" claim in the advert was misleading.[
32]
In 2011, a national TV ad showed a range of toys next to a banner that stated "1
/2 PRICE TOYS". The voiceover said "The only serious thing in ASDA's Toy Event a
re the prices! Everything is at least half price!" On-screen text throughout mos
t of the ad stated "Majority of Stores. Subject to Availability. Furniture with
Doll's House sold separately". Asda tried to explain to the ASA that all of the
toys featured in the ad were at half price or less and they believed that it was
clear that the half price related only to toys in the Toy Event. The ASA disagr
eed, and referred to the claim "Everything is at least half price!" was likely t
o imply to viewers that all toys were included in the sale. As all toys were not
included in the sale, and in the absence of a qualifying statement, the ad was
misleading.[33]
The ASA ruled that a television advertisement in 2011 for the new Asda price gua
rantee was misleading in that the small on-screen text that stated "Exclusions a
pply" was not sufficient to warn viewers that the Asda price guarantee did not a
pply to non-grocery items.[34]
The ASA also ruled against two national press ads one which showed hardback and
children's books and one that showed football related items with text stating "I
f your grocery shopping could have cost less elsewhere we'll give you the differ
ence - Guaranteed!" Although each advert had "Exclusions apply" and that other t
ext stated "If your grocery shopping could have cost less elsewhere we'll give y
ou the difference", it felt that given the prominent appearance of the hardback
and children's activity books and football related items and the prominent appea
rance of the logo "ASDA Price GUARANTEE" and "Guaranteed!", they considered the

footnote and other text referred to above was not sufficient to warn readers tha
t non-grocery items particularly those included in the advertisement were not in
cluded in the Asda price guarantee.[34]
Another advertisement from Asda, in which it featured World Cup related products
and an Asda price guarantee was misleading as the World Cup related products we
re exclusive to Asda and not, therefore, available at Morrisons, Tesco or Sainsb
ury's.[34]
In 2009, the ASA challenged whether a press ad which showed a large green arrow
bearing down on a smaller yellow arrow with a crumpled tip and "Asda 2955 produc
ts cheaper" should set out how the general price claims made in the ads could be
verified by consumers. Because it was not possible for consumers or competitors
to check the products and prices used in the comparison using mySupermarket.co.
uk, and because the ads did not set out how consumers and competitors could chec
k that information for themselves, the ASA concluded that the ads did not satisf
y the criterion of verifiability as defined in the 2006 European Court of Justic
e ruling, and were therefore in breach of the advertising Codes.[35]
On 25 October 2011, an advert stated, "Last Thursday, an independent price check
er confirmed that ASDA had this many branded products cheaper than Argos" with a
tag showing "ASDA 551 Cheaper" and "Argos 139 Cheaper". Smaller on-screen text
stated "Independently price checked by skuudle". Argos revealed that on the same
date of claim, they had data to support the two stores offered 1191 identical b
randed products, of which Asda was cheaper on 846 and Argos cheaper on 336, and
that there were discrepancies in counting products based on variations of colour
s, delivery prices being included, and level of service offered. The ASA ruled t
hat, due to the significant limitations and qualifications to the basis of the p
rice comparison which were not included in the ad, or in the terms and condition
s on Asda's website, the approach taken in making the comparisons was unfair and
misleading.[36]
A press ad, which appeared on 26 September 2011, was headlined "Only one superma
rket is ... always 10% cheaper or we'll give you the difference guaranteed". How
ever, at the top of the ad there was a banner that contained the claims "SALE",
"Half Price", "Price Drop", "50% off", "1/2 price", "cheap" and that part of the
headline claim "... always 10% cheaper" appeared in bold text in the middle of
the ad. The ASA considered the banner, together with the headline was likely to
be interpreted by consumers as claims that referred to the price of ASDA goods.
Since consumers could interpret that claim as one which guaranteed to refund the
difference, should ASDA not be the lowest on price, the ASA considered the pres
ence of the claim "only one supermarket is always 10% cheaper" could create the
impression that ASDA were always 10% cheaper and would be interpreted as a 'lowe
st price' claim. The ASA therefore concluded that the advert was misleading. It
also noted the footnote explaining the APG contradicted ASDA's absolute claim th
at they were always the lowest on price, and that the disclaimer was also mislea
ding.[37]
In 2009, a four-page regional press wraparound included several maps and images
of a proposed development in New Barnet, and described the benefits the developm
ent would bring to the local area. The advert included a development site plan a
nd map, which marked out the proposed Asda store, the existing Sainsbury store a
nd the sites of the proposed, approved and existing Tesco stores. Because it was
not clear that the marked-out area relating to the Asda store was for only the
store floorspace, whereas the marked-out area relating to the Sainsburys store i
ncluded store floorspace and additional buildings, and the marked-out area relat
ing to the proposed Tesco area was not based on an approved plan, the ASA conclu
ded the advertisement was misleading.[38]
Asda House, Leeds; the supermarket's headquarters
Public relations spending

Energy efficiency
Asda was the top-performing supermarket in the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Perf
ormance League Table, coming in at 37 and beating Morrisons at 56, Tesco at 93,
and Sainsbury's at 164.[39]
Ethical trading
Asda has signed up to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) which respects worker
s' rights for freedom of association and a living wage. Implementing this initia
tive is difficult, however, because the concept of a living wage varies between
countries and the buying strategies of a major importer like Asda have an indire
ct impact on national minimum wages by obliging governments to set them low enou
gh to stop businesses from going elsewhere.[40] Industry pressure groups such as
Labour Behind the Label and War on Want have argued that Asda and other budget
retailers use unethical labour practices in the developing world to keep UK pric
es low.[41][42] The National Farmers' Union, representing UK farmers and growers
, has argued that Asda and other major supermarkets have made large profits and
kept consumer prices low "by squeezing suppliers' margins to the point where man
y of them have gone out of business".[43] Asda have also refused to sign up to a
nd donate to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund, to donate compensation to the fam
ilies of workers in Bangladesh killed when their factory building in Rana Plaza
collapsed in 2013. Campaigners believe Asda is unwilling to set a precedent on i
ndemnity pay for large scale industrial accidents.[44]
In 2009, Asda's Valentine's Day roses, sold at 2 for a dozen, were said to be eth
ically sourced by the supermarket. This claim went against research carried out
by War on Want.[45]
Call for boycott
In October 2010, Chairman Andy Bond was a signatory to a controversial letter to
The Daily Telegraph,[46] which claimed that "The private sector should be more
than capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public s
ector, and the redeployment of people to more productive activities will improve
economic performance, so generating more employment opportunities." This was fo
llowed by calls[by whom?] for a boycott of Asda, as well as the companies repres
ented by the other signatories to the letter on the grounds that "Companies that
support the CSR are failed corporate citizens."[47]
Sponsorships
Asda sponsored English football team Sheffield Wednesday during the early 19
90s. Also Asda sponsored Accrington Stanley in the 1998 1999 season
Asda sponsors a stand in Prenton Park, home of English football team Tranmer
e Rovers.[citation needed]
Asda sponsors Kwik cricket for Kids.[48]
Charities
Asda supports 6 main charities through its stores.
Tickled Pink - Now in its 16th year, this helps two breast cancer charities
Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Campaign. Since it started, they have raise
d over 29 million.[49]
Tommy's - funds research to find out why things go wrong in pregnancy and bi
rth, and provides information free of charge [50]
Children in Need [51]
Everyman - a campaign charity since 2011.[52]

Fields In Trust - charity partnership since 2010. The Challenge aims to prot
ect 2012 outdoor recreational spaces by 2012, to create a permanent living legac
y of both the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics.[53]
Asda Foundation - supporting local causes of Asda store workers, with projec
ts supported across the UK.[54]
Asda Smart Price
Asda's Smart Price logo
Asda Smart Price is a no-frills private label trade name. The equivalents from t
he three other big supermarkets are Tesco Everyday Value,[55] Sainsbury's Basics
and Morrisons M Savers.
The Smart Price brand originated in the Asda's Farm Stores brand launched in the
mid-1990s, which consisted of products that were offered at a lower price than
the equivalent famous name brand product and Asda's own brand equivalent. The Fa
rm Stores brand originally consisted of a small number of food only products, la
rgely frozen such as frozen chips and a small range of ready meals, this range l
ater expanded to include fresh food.
Smart Price products are almost always the lowest price option (known as Our Low
est Price) in a product category in Asda stores. Occasionally this difference is
only a few pence, however in others it is a marked difference. For example, a b
ox of Smart Price Biological Washing Powder costs 50 pence while the equivalent
Asda brand washing powder costs 1.50 and well known name brand alternatives cost
from 2 upwards.
The Smart Price label was originally a food only brand, however it has since exp
anded to cover almost every product range in the store, including clothing and f
urnishings with the George Smart Price brand. Like early generic products in the
US some Smart Price products lack what can be thought of as 'frills' in the mod
ern brand name or supermarket own brand, for example the Smart Price toothpaste
has an old fashioned screw cap rather than the now more common flip cap and the
Smart Price range of crisps come in traditional clear plastic bags rather than t
he foil bags common to most name brand versions.
Asda's Smart Price logo and packaging has changed several times since its introd
uction. In 2012, it was revised to match the branding of the Walmart Great Value
line,[56] but a further redesign in 2014 removed the similarity in visual style
.
George clothing
Asda has its own range of clothing known as George which was created in 1990.[57
] This is marketed as quality fashion clothing at affordable prices. Walmart als
o sells the George brand in Argentina, Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and
the US (and in South Korea until Walmart pulled out of that market). The label i
s named after George Davies, founder of Next, who was its original chief designe
r. Davies himself parted company with Asda in 2000 and is no longer associated w
ith the brand.[58]
In 2005, Asda stated that the
sales from Walmart stores in
s the fourth largest retailer
pencer, the Arcadia Group and

George range was a 1.75 billion business, including

the USA and Germany. Mintel estimate that George i
of clothing in the United Kingdom, after Marks & S
Next.[59]

Asda was the first supermarket to stock wedding dresses. Part of the George line
, they cost 60 while adult bridesmaid dresses ranged between 30 and 35, at launch.[
60]
Stores
Current stores

An Asda Walmart Supercentre in Patchway, Greater Bristol

Asda originally had a "simple and fresh" store format, which under Archie Norman
's team and the focus on a Walmart style strategy became more emphasised. The st
ores are generally white and green, with simplistic layout but built on a Walmar
t larger footprint format
Asda's average store is almost 20% bigger than its riv
als, but stocks 20% fewer lines.[citation needed]
However, the preferred large-format stores have brought problems to Asda's growt
h beyond its spurts in both the 1990s and immediate post Walmart era. With the U
K's tight planning restrictions, the opportunity to increase retail space via ne
w store builds has been limited. Rather than follow rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's
into "local" format smaller-footprint stores, Asda has chosen to adapt its form
at to niche stores to retain longer term growth.
On 16 April 2010, Asda announced plans to open over 100 new non-food stores as p
art of an ambitious five-year plan.[61]
In February 2011, Asda announced the purchase of 6 stores from Focus DIY, which
will be converted into supermarkets subject to approvals and local planning cons
ents.[21]
Asda Supercentres
Following the takeover by Walmart, several "Asda Walmart Supercentres" have been
opened, creating some of the largest hypermarkets in the United Kingdom. From a
round 2008 onwards, all new Supercentres have been solely branded as Asda Superc
entre without the Walmart branding. The first Supercentre opened in Livingston,
Scotland, in 2001.[62] The Minworth, Birmingham, store is currently the largest
Asda Supercentre with a net sales floor of over 11,000 m2 (120,000 sq ft).[63] T
he Milton Keynes store is currently the second largest Asda Supercentre and the
third largest is located in Huyton, Merseyside. As of 2007 there were 29 Superce
ntres in the UK.[64]
The interior of the Asda store in Liscard, Wirral, taken from the store's staff
and visitor reception area.
Asda superstores
Asda superstores are large supermarkets with a non-food offer slightly smaller t
han an Asda Supercentre. As of 2011 there are 231 superstores in the UK.[citatio
n needed]
Asda superstore in West Bridgford, Nottingham
Asda superstore in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
A smaller, older Asda Superstore in Holt Park, Leeds
Many stores, such as this one in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, display the older, bor
dered logo
Asda Supermarket
The Supermarket division was formed in 2009. As of July 2010, there are 26 small
format supermarkets some of which were acquired from the Co-operative. The firs
t three acquisition stores opened mid-2009 in Wellington, Lancing and Pershore f
ollowed by Cumnock, Tweedmouth and Kingsheath in 2010. The largest Supermarket f
ormat store in the UK is in Highbridge.[citation needed]
In May 2010, Asda announced the purchase of the 193 UK stores of Danish discount
retailer Netto in a 778 million deal. The stores continued to trade as Netto sto
res until early 2011, when Asda integrated the stores into its supermarkets divi
sion, designated for shops smaller than 2,300 m2 (25,000 sq ft).[65]

Asda Living
An Asda Living branch in Leeds.
In October 2003, Asda launched a new format called 'Asda Living'. This is the co
mpany's first "general merchandise" store, containing all its non-food ranges in
cluding clothing, home electronics, toys, homewares, health, and beauty products
. With these stores they have linked up with Compass Group who operate the coffe
e shop Living Cafe within some of the stores. The first store with this format o
pened in Walsall, West Midlands. As at 1 April 2010, there were 24 stores with a
n average 2,600 m2 (28,000 sq ft) sales selling an average 23,000 non-grocery pr
oducts in-store.
George Stores
In 2011, Asda announced its intention to establish a small number of pilot Georg
e stores.[66] In January 2012 Asda announced that it had agreed to terms with tw
o franchise partners to open international George stores. Through the agreement
with SandpiperCI, based in the Channel Islands, the company will be responsible
for opening George franchises in both Jersey and Guernsey, and through the Azade
a Group, headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, the George franchise stores would ope
n in the Middle East.[67][68] The opening of the first George stores in both reg
ions are expected before the end of 2012.
Asda Essentials
In April 2006, Asda launched a new trial format called 'Asda Essentials' in a fo
rmer Co-op store in Northampton, followed by another in Pontefract a month later
. This was the old Kwik-Save building for Pontefract. [69] The stores were model
led on France's Leader Price chain, with a smaller floorplate than Asda's mainst
ream stores and with a primary focus on own-brand products, only stocking brande
d items that were perceived to be at the "core" of a family's weekly shop with t
he aim being to challenge the dominance of Tesco and Sainsbury's in the convenie
nce store market while at the same time addressing competition from discount sup
ermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl and Netto.[69] On 6 December 2006, The Guardian new
spaper reported that further planned store openings were under review following
poor sales in the existing outlets, while the range of branded products being ca
rried was also being expanded due to customer demand.[69] In January 2007 it was
announced that the original trial store would close within a month after only 1
0 months of trading.[70] The Pontefract store remains open.
Former stores
George clothing stores
In 2004, the George clothing brand was extended to a number of standalone George
stores on the high street, with the first George standalone store to open was i
n Preston. In 2008, all George standalone stores were closed due to high rental
costs resulting in low profitability,[71] The Falkirk and Crewe branch were kept
open as they are located next to the Asda store. The Manchester Fort store was
converted into an 'ASDA Living' store.
Distribution
Asda also has 26 depots all across the UK which distribute across the network of
stores. There are depots for chilled foods, clothing and ambient products, such
as carbonated drinks and cereals.[72]
Other interests
Asda's property development arm, Gazeley Limited, was sold to Economic Zones Wor
ld (EZW), a Dubai World subsidiary, in June 2008 for in excess of 300m.[73] Gazel
ey was involved in the development of distribution warehousing in the UK, mainla

nd Europe and China, for customers including third-party logistics providers, or

iginal equipment manufacturers, retailers and their suppliers.
Asda Financial Services
Asda has a financial services division, similar to those operated by Tesco, Sain
sbury's and other retailers. Asda simply attaches its own brand to products prov
ided by other companies. Services they offer include insurance (provided by Norw
ich Union), credit cards (provided by Grupo Santander) and loans (provided by th
e Funding Corporation Ltd.). The financial services division of the organisation
does not directly sell these services in store and instead uses the supplier of
that product by telephone or online/postal application. Until June 2009 some st
ores had credit card representatives provided by GE Capital Bank and then Grupo
Santander. Marketing and management of financial services is co-ordinated in hou
se and many stores have a financial services co-ordinator, responsible for promo
ting the products and ensuring legal compliance. The Financial Services division
is also responsible for gift cards, Christmas Saver and Business Rewards.[74]
Loyalty card
The company does not run a loyalty card scheme, stating that "we prefer to inves
t the money we'd use to set up such a scheme into driving down prices for our cu
stomers". However it did trial the Asda Clubcard in the 90's across multiple sto
res.[75] The Asda-branded Credit Card (provided by Grupo Santander) offers a poi
nts scheme; points can be earned on all spending.[76]
Internet operations
Question book-new.svg
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improv
e this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may b
e challenged and removed. (May 2013)
An Asda Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Delivery Van.
Asda launched its online retailer service in 1998. It began with a dedicated dep
ot based in Croydon, South London, but this was closed with a number of redundan
cies shortly after, as sales were lower than expected.[citation needed] It conti
nued the online service, but emulated the Tesco store-based model instead.[citat
ion needed]
Since the roll-out of the grocery delivery operation Asda has moved into non-foo
d online retailing. Current categories include entertainment, contact lenses, fu
rniture, travel, electricals, gifts, mobile phones and flowers.
In May 2004 it announced an expansion of the service which would increase covera
ge from 30% of the UK population to 35%.
In January 2007, Asda launched www.asda-electricals.co.uk to compete with Tesco'
s highly successful Tesco Direct. In October 2008, Asda launched direct.asda.com
superseding its electricals website and also selling several additional product
categories such as homeware, garden and toys.
This new venture is part of its online business Asda Direct, with more than 3,00
0 domestic and home electrical products. Asda's long term ambition to capture 5%
of the 1.9 billion market by 2012.
In 2007, the company sold its Durabrand 1005 DVD player for only 9, making it the
UK's lowest priced DVD player,[77] which sold out in just two days from start o
f the promotion.
In 2012, Asda launched a new online tyre website with the aim of competing again
st large fast fit operations. The Asda Tyres website utilises a network of indep
endent tyre fitters around the UK with a click and reserve model whereby custome

rs do not have to pay for goods online.[78]

Financial performance
As of March 2009, Tesco has a 30.4% share of the UK grocery market while Asda's
share is 17.5%, followed by Sainsbury's at 16.1%, and Morrisons at 11.8%.[79]
According to CACI, as of 2006, Asda has market dominance in 14 postcode areas; D
Y (Dudley), B (Birmingham), CH (Chester), L (Liverpool), WN (Wigan), BL (Bolton)
, BB (Blackburn), LA (Lancaster), HU (Kingston upon Hull), SR (Sunderland), DH (
Durham), NE (Newcastle upon Tyne), G (Glasgow) and AB (Aberdeen).[80]
Supermarket
Consumer
Spend (000s) Market share
March 2009
+/- from
March 2008
Tesco 6,453,370
30.4% Increase 4.3%
Asda
3,411,938
17.5% Increase 8.5%
Sainsbury's
3,239,500
16.1% Increase 5.7%
Morrisons
2,327,583
11.8% Increase 7.2%
Employee relations
Asda has 150,000 employees, whom it refers to as "colleagues" (90,000 part-time,
60,000 full-time).[citation needed] The company has featured prominently in lis
ts of "Best companies to work for", appearing in second place in The Times newsp
aper list for 2005.[81] It offers staff a discount of 10% on most items (excepti
ons include fuel, stamps, lottery, giftcards and tobacco related items).[82]
The company was fined 850,000 in 2006 for offering 340 staff at a Dartford depot
a pay rise in return for giving up a union collective bargaining agreement.[83]
Poor relations continued as Asda management attempted to introduce new rights an
d working practices shortly thereafter at another centre in Washington, Tyne and
Wear.[84]
Some compromise was reached by June of that year, when a five-day strike was cal
led off after Asda management and the GMB union reached an agreement.[85]
Relations have improved since, with both Asda and the GMB marking the death of a
worker together on Workers' Memorial Day in 2010.[86]
In 2013, tens of thousands of Asda workers across the UK were hit with a tax com
plication because of an anomaly in Asda's payroll system. Asda employees receive
their pay every four weeks, which means that once every 20 years they are paid
14 times a year rather than 13. Whilst most companies handle this properly, Asda
's payroll system didn't, which meant that workers had, through no fault of thei
r own, paid less tax for the year than they should have. This resulted in most f
ull-time and a small number of part-time workers receiving a demand from HM Reve
nue & Customs for between 72 to 160.[87]
Controversies
Dairy price fixing
An Asda Petrol Station sign at Great Yarmouth store in 2008
In December 2007, Asda, Sainsbury's and other retailers and dairy firms admitted
to the price fixing of dairy products between 2002 and 2003.[88] The price fixi
ng operation was calculated to have cost consumers around 270 million.[89]
Asda commented, "Everyone at Asda regrets what happened, particularly as we are
passionate about lowering prices. Our intention was to provide more money for da
iry farmers, who were under severe financial pressure at the time."[90] In total
, Asda was fined 18.21 million by the Office of Fair Trading for its part in the
cartel.[91]
2013 horsemeat scandal

See also: 2013 meat adulteration scandal

In 2013, DNA tests revealed that horsemeat was present in Asda's fresh beef Bolo
gnese sauce, the first instance during the 2013 meat adulteration scandal of hor
semeat being found in fresh meat.[92]
Asda Mobile
Main article: Asda Mobile
Asda also operates a mobile phone network called Asda Mobile, which was launched
in April 2007. This is provided in partnership with EE.
Awards
1997 present: Voted Britain's lowest price supermarket in a survey by Grocer 3
3 Magazine[citation needed]
2001, 2002, 2003: Voted a top 10 UK employer by the Sunday Times Top 100 Bes
t Employers Survey, although the merit of Asda being awarded such an award is co
ntested by the GMB[citation needed]
2002: Nestl Social Commitment Award, awarded by peers in the food industry[ci
tation needed]
March 2009: Voted 'Innovative Employer of the Year' at the Oracle Retail Wee
k Awards[93]
See also
2007
List
List
List
List
List

UK
of
of
of
of
of

petrol contamination
convenience stores
department stores
hypermarkets
superstores
supermarkets

Yorkshire rose.svgYorkshire portal

Foodlogo2.svgFood portal
Factory 1b.svgCompanies portal
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External links
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