Asda is a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom offering food, clothing and general merchandise products. It became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Wal-Mart in 1999,^[1] and is currently the second largest chain in the UK after Tesco, having overtaken Sainsbury's in 2003. ASDA can mean: ASDA, major supermarket chain. ... A subsidiary, in business, is an entity that is controlled by another entity. ... For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation) and Leeds City (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... Andy Bond (born March 16, 1965 in Grantham) is the Chief Executive Officer of ASDA. His father was a plumber and his mother a nurse. ... Drawing of a self-service store. ... Supermarket produce section A supermarket is a store that sells a wide variety of goods including food and alcohol, medicine, clothes, and other household products that are consumed regularly. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Financial services is a term used to refer to the services provided by the finance industry. ... For the tax agency in Ireland of the same name, see Revenue Commissioners. ... Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ... Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), also known as operating income and operating profit, is a term used to describe a companys earnings. ... GBP redirects here. ... This article is about work. ... For the band, see Big Brother and the Holding Company. ... Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ... Packaged food aisles in a Fred Meyer store in Portland, Oregon A supermarket is a departmentalized self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise. ... Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ... , For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ... This article is about the supermarket business. ...

Asda is Wal-Mart's largest non-U.S. subsidiary, accounting for almost half of the company's international sales. As of January 2006, there were 21 Asda/Wal-Mart Supercentres, 243 Asda superstores, 37 Asda supermarkets (including town centres), 5 Asda Living stores, 10 George clothing stores and 24 depots (distribution centres) - 340 in total. Asda has 150,000 employees, who it refers to as "colleagues" (90,000 part-time, 60,000 full-time). The company is also engaged in property development through its subsidiary company, Gazeley Properties Limited. To suggest a relevant news story for the main page, refer to the criteria then add your suggestion at the candidates page. ...

As a wholly owned division of Wal-Mart, Asda is not required to declare quarterly or half-yearly earnings. It submits full accounts to Companies House each October. Companies House is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Government Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). ...

History

Asda, West Bridgford, Nottingham, England

Asda Stores Limited was founded as Associated Dairies & Farm Stores Ltd in 1949. However the formation 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 Asquith and Dairies.^[2] Image File history File links Asda_wb. ... Image File history File links Asda_wb. ...

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 Ltd, 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 to a management buyout and renamed Associated Fresh Foods ^[3], meaning that ASDA today has no connection with one of the firms its name was derived from. MFI Retail Limited, usually referred to simply as MFI, is a national British furniture retailer. ...

A smaller Asda Branch in Holt Park, Leeds

With its stores mainly based in its northern home base, the newly focused food retail group expanded further south in 1989 by buying the large format stores of rival Gateway Superstores for £705m. This move overstretched the company and it found itself in deep trouble trying to sell too many different products.^[4] Resultantly forced to raise money from shareholders in both 1991 and 1993, it was revived under the leadership of Archie Norman, who later became a front bench Conservative MP. CEO from 1991, Norman was chairman of the company during the period 1996–99, and replicated the store on the basis of United States retail giant Wal-Mart, even sending protégé Allan Leighton to Bentonville, Arkansas to asses and photograph what systems and marketing Wal-Mart had deployed.^[5] Holt Park is a low-rise, 1970s estate on the northern edge of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. ... For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation) and Leeds City (disambiguation). ... Somerfield is a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. ... Archibald John Norman (May 1, 1954) is a British politician and businessman. ... The Conservative Party, officially though less commonly known as the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ... Sam Waltons original Waltons Five and Dime, now the Wal-Mart Visitors Center, in the center of Bentonville Monument in homage to James H. Berry, the Confederacy, and the Southern Soldier, called by many Feddy, located in the town square of Bentonville, facing the Wal-Mart Visitor...

The Asda store in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, was acquired from the former Safeway plc.

When Norman left to pursue his political career he was replaced by Leighton. Wal-Mart wanted to enter the UK market so CEO Bob Martin lobbied UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on planning issues.^[6] Asda, which at the time owned 230 stores and was in competition with Kingfisher plc, was purchased by Wal-Mart on July 26, 1999 for £6.7Bn.^[1] For other places with the same name, see Shrewsbury (disambiguation). ... Shropshire (pronounced /, -/), alternatively known as Salop[6] or abbreviated Shrops[7], is a county in the West Midlands of England. ... Safeway is a chain of supermarkets and convenience stores in the UK, owned by Wm Morrison Supermarkets. ... Fighting Bob Martin (November 11, 1897 _ 1978) was a heavyweight boxing champion who became the Heavyweight Champion of the American Expeditionary Forces and Inter-Allied Armies during World War I. He fought against future heavyweight champion, Gene Tunney, in 1918, but lost in 4 rounds. ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... Kingfisher plc is a UK-based international retailer, which has owned a wide variety of retail chains in its history but is now focused on the DIY business. ... is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ...

Since the takeover Asda has continued to maintain its headquarters at the then newly opened "Asda House". Asda House 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 from the city centre of Leeds, in the Holbeck district, West Yorkshire. Gordale Beck flows out of Gordale Scar to join the Aire. ... For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation) and Leeds City (disambiguation). ... Holbeck is a district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, through which passes the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. ... Coat of Arms of South Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, that has a population of 2. ...

In 2005, amid reported concerns within Wal-Mart about a slippage in market share, partially due to a resurgent Sainsbury's, Asda's chief executive, Tony de Nunzio, was replaced by Andy Bond. In the same year, Asda expanded into Northern Ireland by purchasing 12 Safeway stores from Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc.^[7] This article is about the supermarket business. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... A Safeway supermarket in Camberwell, South East London, in 2003 Safeway was a chain of 479 supermarkets and convenience stores in the UK that is now part of Wm Morrison Supermarkets. ... For other uses, see Morrison. ...

Dairy scandal

In December 2007 Asda, Sainsbury's and other retailers admitted to price fixing dairy products between 2002 and 2003. Asda commented, "Everyone at Asda regrets what happened, particularly as we are passionate about lowering prices, Our intention was to provide more money for dairy farmers, who were under severe financial pressure at the time." So far in total these retailers have been fined £116 million. Tesco, Morrisons and dairy company Lactalis McLelland denied any involvement in price-fixing; however, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) says it will carry on its investigation. It was announced that the alleged price-fixing cost consumers £260M. ^[8] This article is about the supermarket business. ... , For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Morrison. ... The Office of Fair Trading or OFT is a UK statutory body established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UKs economic regulator. ...

Store formats

Asda originally had a "simple and fresh" store format, which under Archie Norman's team and the focus on a Wal-Mart esque strategy became even more so. The stores are generally white and green, with simplistic layout but built on a Wal-Mart larger footprint format - Asda average store is almost 20% bigger than its rivals, but stocks 20% fewer lines. Following the takeover by Wal-Mart, several "Asda Wal-Mart Supercentres" have been opened, creating some of the largest hypermarkets in the United Kingdom. The first Supercentre opened in Livingston, Scotland in June 2000. Milton Keynes store has opened since then and is the largest Asda Wal-Mart Supercentre. There are currently 21 ASDA Wal-Mart Supercentres in the UK.

An Asda Petrol Station sign in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

However, the preferred large-format stores have brought problems to Asda's growth beyond its spurts in both the 1990s and immediate post Wal-Mart era. With the UK's tight planning restrictions, the opportunity to increase retail space via new store builds has been limited. Rather than follow rivals Tesco's and Sainsbury's into "local" format smaller-footprint stores, Asda has chosen to adapt its format to niche stores to retain longer term growth. , Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. ... Norfolk (pronounced ) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ...

In October 2003 Asda launched a new format called 'Asda Living'. This is the company's first "general merchandise" store, containing all its non-food ranges including clothing, home electronics, toys, homewares, health, and beauty products. With these stores they have linked up with Compass Group who operate the coffee shop caffe Ritazza within some of the stores. The first store with this format opened in Walsall, West Midlands, and at the time of writing has been followed by ten further stores in Cortonwood (Barnsley), Altrincham, Byker (Newcastle-upon-Tyne),Dartford, Tottenham hale, Lincoln, Thurrock (Essex), Glasgow, Leeds Crown Point and at Yorkgate in Belfast. Tesco is also trialling a similar format, "Homeplus", in Denton, Greater Manchester as well as in Bristol. Asda has also opened a number of stores containing its George range only in several city centres. The British company Compass Group LSE: CPG is one of the largest food service businesses in the world. ... A Caffè Ritazza at Budapest Ferihegy International Airport Caffè Ritazza is an International Owned Brand of the Compass Group. ... , Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. ... The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of around 2,600,000 people. ... For other uses, see Barnsley (disambiguation). ... For other meanings of Essex, see Essex (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital city of Northern Ireland. ... , For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ...

In April 2006, Asda launched a new format called Asda Essentials in a former Co-op store in Northampton, followed by another in Pontefract a month later. This was modelled on the French Leaderprice chain, with a smaller floorplate than Asda's mainstream stores. Essentials focuses primarily on own-brand products, only stocking branded items that are perceived to be at the "core" of a family's weekly shop. This style of retailing is an attempt to address competition from discount supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl and Netto. On 6 December 2006 The Guardian newspaper reported that further planned store openings were under review following poor sales in the existing outlets. It was also revealed that the range of branded products has been expanded.^[9] In early January 2007 it was announced that the initial trial Essentials store would close within a month after only 10 months of trading^[10]. The Co-op refers to supermarkets, convenience stores, funeral directors, a small number of department stores and other businesses owned by a variety of independent Co-operative societies but largely marketed and operated in a co-ordinated way. ... Northampton is a large market town and a local government district in the English East Midlands region. ...  , short for ALbrecht DIscount, is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany and one of the largest retail chains worldwide. ... Lidl in Middlesbrough, England Lidl in Lomma, Sweden Typical Lidl interior Lidl is a European discount supermarket chain of German origin that operates 7,000 stores. ... Netto logo A Netto store in Copenhagen Netto is a Danish based chain of discount supermarkets. ... is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Guardian. ...

In 2004, the George clothing brand (see below) was extended to a number of standalone George stores on the high street. The George label is named after George Davies, founder of Next, who went on to set up the Per Una clothing business for Marks & Spencer. George Stand-alone stores are all to close within the next 12 months due to high rent causing poor returns. Instead, Asda are going to focus on opening 10-12 new Asda Living Stores in 2008. George Davies (born 1941) is a British fashion retailer who headed Next from its creation in the 1980s, and founded the fashion label George at Asda in the 1990s. ... Next on Oxford Street Next PLC is a British clothes retailer, with its headquarters in Enderby, Leicestershire, England. ... per una is a range of womens clothing sold by Marks & Spencer. ... Marks & Spencer (also M&S, Marks and Sparks and Marks) is a British retailer, with 760 stores in more than 30 countries around the world. ...

The interior of the Asda store at Liscard, Merseyside, taken from the store's colleague and visitors' reception area.

Liscard is an area of the town of Wallasey, on the Wirral Peninsula in England. ... Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. ...

Market share

As of February 2007, Tesco has 31.4% of the UK grocery market while Asda's share is 16.8%, followed by Sainsbury's at 16.5%, and Morrisons at 11.0%.^[11] February 2007 is the second month of that year and has yet to occur. ... , For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ... TNS Worldpanel is a division of the United Kingdom based global market information group TNS, which analyses the British grocery sector. ...

It is widely expected, as predicted by former Asda boss Tony de Nunzio in 2006^{[citation needed]}, that Sainsbury's will reclaim second place at some point in the short to medium term, but this has not happened as yet.

According to CACI, as of 2006, ASDA has market dominance in 14 postcode areas; DY (Dudley), B (Birmingham), CH (Chester), L (Liverpool), WN (Wigan), BL (Bolton), BB (Blackburn), LA (Lancaster), HU (Hull), SR (Sunderland), DH (Durham), NE (Newcastle upon Tyne), G (Glasgow) and AB (Aberdeen).^[12] CACI NYSE: CAI is a United States-based private military contractor. ... The DY postcode area, also known as the Dudley postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Bewdley, Brierley Hill, Dudley, Kidderminster, Kingswinford, Stourbridge, Stourport-on-Severn and Tipton in England. ... Map sources for Dudley at grid reference SO9390 Dudley is a town in the West Midlands, England. ... The B postcode area, also known as the Birmingham postcode area[2], covers the boroughs of Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire in England. ... This article is about the British city. ... The CH postcode area, also known as the Chester postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Bagillt, Birkenhead, Buckley, Chester, Deeside, Ellesmere Port, Flint, Holywell, Mold, Neston, Prenton, Wallasey and Wirral in England and Wales. ... For the larger local government district, see Chester (district). ... The L postcode area, also known as the Liverpool postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Bootle, Liverpool, Ormskirk and Prescot in England. ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... The WN postcode area, also known as the Wigan postcode area,[1] is a group of postal districts in North West England that are sub-divisions of three post towns. ... , Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. ... The BL postcode area, also known as the Bolton postcode area,[1] is a group of postal districts around the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. ... For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. ... The BB postcode area, also known as the Blackburn postcode area[1], is a group of postal districts around Accrington, Barnoldswick, Blackburn, Burnley, Clitheroe, Colne, Darwen, Nelson and Rossendale in England. ... This article is about the town in Lancashire, England. ... The LA postcode area, also known as the Lancaster postcode area[1], is a group of postal districts around Ambleside, Askam-in-Furness, Barrow-in-Furness, Broughton-in-Furness, Carnforth, Coniston, Dalton-in-Furness, Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Kirkby-in-Furness, Lancaster, Millom, Milnthorpe, Morecambe, Sedbergh, Ulverston and Windermere in... Lancaster can refer to: Places In the United Kingdom: Lancaster, Lancashire The City of Lancaster, the local government district containing Lancaster In the United States: Lancaster, California Lancaster, Kansas Lancaster, Kentucky Lancaster, Massachusetts Lancaster, Minnesota Lancaster, Missouri Lancaster County, Nebraska Lancaster, New Hampshire Lancaster, New York: Lancaster (town), New York... The HU postcode area, also known as the Hull postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Beverley, Brough, Cottingham, Hessle, Hornsea, Hull, North Ferriby and Withernsea in England. ... Hull or Kingston upon Hull is a British city situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary. ... The SR postcode area, also known as the Sunderland postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Peterlee, Seaham and Sunderland in England. ... For other uses, see Sunderland (disambiguation). ... The DH postcode area, also known as the Durham postcode area[1], is a group of postal districts around Chester le Street, Consett, Durham, Houghton le Spring and Stanley in England. ... Durham (IPA: locally, in RP) is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham in North East England. ... The NE postcode area, also known as the Newcastle upon Tyne postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Alnwick, Ashington, Bamburgh, Bedlington, Belford, Blaydon-on-Tyne, Blyth, Boldon Colliery, Chathill, Choppington, Corbridge, Cramlington, East Boldon, Gateshead, Haltwhistle, Hebburn, Hexham, Jarrow, Morpeth, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Newcastle Upon... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... The G postcode area, also known as the Glasgow postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Alexandria, Clydebank, Dumbarton, Glasgow and Helensburgh in Scotland. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... The AB postcode area, also known as the Aberdeen postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Aberdeen, Aberlour, Aboyne, Alford, Ballater, Ballindalloch, Banchory, Banff, Buckie, Ellon, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Insch, Inverurie, Keith, Laurencekirk, Macduff, Milltimber, Peterculter, Peterhead, Stonehaven, Strathdon, Turriff and Westhill in Scotland. ... For other uses, see Aberdeen (disambiguation). ...

Marketing

An Asda Mercedes-Benz Sprinter delivery van.

Asda is known for two famous marketing campaigns. In the "Asda price" campaign, [3] customers tap their trouser pocket twice, producing a 'chinking' sound as the coins that Asda's low prices have supposedly left in their pockets knock together. Hattie Jacques featured in adverts for ASDA in the early 1980s. In the late 1980s, prior to the reintroduction of the tap pocket campaign, advertising for Asda had featured the Fairground Attraction song Perfect. In 2004, Sharon Osbourne was selected to be part of a new marketing campaign by Asda; her last advert was aired in August 2005. In the smiley face "rollback" campaign, also used in Wal-Mart advertisements, a CGI smiley face bounces from price tag to price tag, knocking them down as customers watch. The focus of these campaigns is to portray Asda as the most affordable supermarket in the country, a claim that is challenged by competitors, especially Aldi. Currently in Asda advertising is a theme featuring singing children and the previous tap of the trouser pocket advertising was reduced to a double-tap on a stylized 'A', still producing the 'chinking' sound. This has included an advert during the 2006 FIFA World Cup featuring the England footballer Michael Owen in an advert with the children singing Vindaloo. The latest advertising campaign has done away with the rollback hook in favour of featuring celebrities Victoria Wood and Paul Whitehouse(amongst others) working as Asda employees. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a big delivery van, chassis cab and minibus built by DaimlerChrysler by Düsseldorf and sold under its Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, and Freightliner brands. ... Josephine Edwina Jacques (7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980), better known by the stage name Hattie Jacques, (pronounced Jakes) was a British comedy actress born in Sandgate, Kent. ... l. ... Perfect was Fairground Attractions first single, released in 1988. ... Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, previously Arden; born 9 October 1952) is an English music manager and promoter, television personality and presenter. ... Computer-generated imagery[1] (also known as CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. ...  , short for ALbrecht DIscount, is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany and one of the largest retail chains worldwide. ... 2006 World Cup redirects here. ... First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Biggest defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in... For other persons named Michael Owen, see Michael Owen (disambiguation). ... Vindaloo was a single from 1998, recorded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup by Fat Les. ... Victoria Wood OBE is a BAFTA award winning English comedian, actor, singer and writer born 19 May 1953 in Prestwich Village, Greater Manchester . ... Suits you Sir Mark Williams (left) with Paul Whitehouse (right) The Fast Show For the motor vehicle and aircraft painter, see Paul Whitehouse (painter). ...

Asda has been winner of the Grocer Magazine "Lowest Price Supermarket" Award for the past 10 years^[13], 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 Advertising Standards Agency. The ASA upheld the complaint^[14] and ordered Asda to stop using it, citing that the Grocer Magazine survey was based on limited and unrepresentative evidence as it examined the price of just 33 products, and that the survey did not study low-cost supermarkets such as Aldi. As a result Asda no longer cites itself as "Officially Britain's lowest priced supermarket", instead using "Winner: Britain's lowest price supermarket award". , For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ... The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is an independent British regulatory body set up by the advertising industry to monitor advertisements in print and broadcast media. ...  , short for ALbrecht DIscount, is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany and one of the largest retail chains worldwide. ...

For Christmas 2007 Asda reintroduced the "That's Asda price" slogan [4] as well as the infamous 'jingle' to some of its adverts although this was overshadowed by the celebrity endorsed "There's no place like Asda".

Starting in 2008, Asda have been returning to its roots and is now re-focusing on price with its new "Why Pay More" campaign both on TV and in stores. Current Asda tv commercials in February 2008 focus on price comparisons between Asda and its rivals, using the "Why Pay More" slogan and old Dad's Army theme tune. The old Asda jingle has once again been removed. adverts.

Asda advertising slogans

Sponsorship

• Asda sponsored English football team Sheffield Wednesday during the early 1990s.
• Asda currently sponsor a stand in Prenton Park, home of English football team Tranmere Rovers.
• Asda currently sponsor the Asda stand at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, home of Welsh football team Swansea City F.C. and Welsh Rugby Union regional team Ospreys Rugby Club.

For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... SWFC redirects here. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Prenton Park is a multi-use stadium in Birkenhead, England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Tranmere Rovers Football Club is an English football club, currently playing in Football League One and based at Prenton Park, Prenton, Birkenhead - just across the River Mersey from the two Premiership Clubs of Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C. // The club was founded as Belmont F.C. by a... The Liberty Stadium, formerly the New Stadium and White Rock, is a purpose-built sports and concert arena in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. ... For other places with the same name, see Swansea (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... Swansea City F.C. are a Welsh football team currently playing in the English Football League, specifically in Football League Two. ... The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) (Welsh: ) is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board. ...

Employee relations

Asda has featured prominently in lists of "Best companies to work for", appearing in second place in the Times newspaper list for 2005 (although very few, if any, employees at grass-roots level were asked for their opinion)^[15]. It offers staff a discount of 10% on most items (exceptions include fuel, stamps, lottery, giftcards and tobacco related items)^[16] In finance, discounting is the process of finding the current value of an amount of cash at some future date, and along with compounding cash from the basis of time value of money calculations. ...

On "double discount day", in December 2005, Asda temporarily increased the staff discount to 20%, but excluded alcoholic drinks from the extra discount for reasons of "operational profit protection". In 2007 Asda chose to allow staff up to £100 off alcohol before discounts. They were also allowed to purchase items from George with 20% off. However, during this "double discount day", all edible and most non-edible grocery products and electrical items (excluding digital cameras) were not included. The GMB Union attempted to get Tesco to offer a similar discount to Asda staff as a publicity stunt, and Asda subsequently included these products in the extra discount, but with a maximum spend of £100, down from £250 in the years before the alterations. While the reinstatement of the discount was intended to be a publicity stunt that improved colleague relations, it resulted in further bitter feelings. This was due to the fact that in the years previously, music albums, singles, DVDs, videos and videogames had been included in the discount day, but were not reinstated with the rest of the discount after Asda backed down.^[17] For other uses, see George. ... The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 700,000 members. ... , For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ... The media itself often stage stunts for movies and television shows. ... The media itself often stage stunts for movies and television shows. ... An album (from Latin albus white, blank, relating to a blank book in which something can be inserted) is a packaged collection of related things. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc - see Etymology) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ... Video is the technology of processing electronic signals representing moving pictures. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ...

Trade union relations

In August 2005, the manager of the Wakefield depot read out what were called "foreign-sounding" names over the public address system ordering them to report immediately to the manager's office. The workers, who were all Muslims, were ordered to produce evidence that they were not illegal immigrants. At least one was threatened with the sack unless he produced his passport the next day. The highly public initiative by management, which came within weeks of the 7 July bombings in London, was followed by a spate of graffiti at the depot in Wakefield expressing hatred and contempt for Muslims and their religion.^[18] For other uses, see Wakefield (disambiguation). ... The 7 July 2005 London bombings (also called the 7/7 bombings) were a series of coordinated terrorist bomb blasts that hit Londons public transport system during the morning rush hour. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

In February 2006, Asda was fined £850,000 for offering employees of a newly taken over distribution depot a pay rise to give up union rights. An employment tribunal found the American-owned supermarket chain guilty of promising 340 distribution staff a 10 per cent pay rise to give up the collective agreement negotiated by the GMB union – an act which is illegal under a 1992 labour relations law. The court ordered Asda to pay £2,500 to each employee at the County Durham depot.^[19] The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 is a UK Act of Parliament which regulates the operation of trade unions and industrial action, and governs relations between employers and unions. ...

In June 2006, GMB Union members at the company's UK distribution depots agreed to strike for five days from 30 June 2006. The two sides failed to agree on how many of Asda's 12,500 depot workers belong to the union across its 24 depots around the UK. The GMB claimed the figure as 7,000, but Asda claimed the number was nearer 4,500. The depots affected include Bedford, Chepstow, Dartford, Didcot, Erith, Falkirk, Grangemouth, Ince George in Wigan, Lymedale (in Staffordshire), Lutterworth, Portbury, Skelmersdale, Teesport, Wakefield, and Washington.^[20] ASDA threatened legal action, citing flaws in the ballot process, but after discussion at the TUC, an agreement was reached for a national level consultative body and the strike called off.^[21] The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 700,000 members. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the English county town. ... , Chepstow (Welsh: Cas-gwent) is a border town straddling the Wales—England (Monmouthshire—Gloucestershire) border, situated at the confluence of the River Wye and River Severn on the Severns west bank. ... , Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. ... , Didcot is a town in the Thames Valley, in the English county of Oxfordshire (although formerly in Berkshire). ... , Erith (pronounced ) is a place in the London Borough of Bexley, south east London on the River Thames, United Kingdom. ... Falkirk (An Eaglais Bhreac, the Variagated [or Speckled] Church [presumably referring to a church building built of many-coloured stones]) in Scottish Gaelic, La Chapelle de Fayerie in French) is a town in central Scotland lying to the north west and north east of the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow... Grangemouth petrochemical works, November 2006 A map of Grangemouth from 1945 Grangemouth is a town and former burgh in the council area of Falkirk, Scotland, and formerly in the County of Stirling. ... , Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... , Lutterworth is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. ... Portbury is a village in North Somerset. ... , Skelmersdale is a town in West Lancashire, England. ... Teesport is one of the UKs 3 largest ports[1], lies 3 miles to the East of Middlesbrough. ... For other uses, see Wakefield (disambiguation). ... Washington Old Hall Washington is a town in North East England, within the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough. ... Trades Union Congress headquarters at Congress House in Great Russell Street near Tottenham Court Road, Camden, London. ...

Online

ASDA launched its online retailer service in 1998, but from the start had over-estimated demand. It began with a dedicated depot based in Croydon, South London, but this was closed with a number of redundancies shortly after as sales were lower than expected. It continued the online service, but emulated the Tesco store-based model instead. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Croydon (disambiguation). ... In UK employment law, redundancy is the dismissal of an employee when his or her job becomes unnecessary. ...

Since the roll-out of the grocery delivery operation Asda has moved into non-food online retailing. Current categories include entertainment, contact lenses, furniture, travel, electricals, gifts, mobile phones and flowers, with more categories being launched each year.

In May 2004 it announced a major expansion of the service which will increase coverage from 30% of the UK population to 35%. The Grocer magazine reported a turnaround in the fortunes of Asda's home shopping service under new head of Home Shopping, Richard Ramsden.^{[citation needed]} More recently, Asda stepped up its commitment to home shopping, focusing on full UK coverage by the end of 2007. Andy Bond highlighted that Asda will be recruiting up to 1,800 new staff to bolster its operations and focus on competing with Tesco in the online arena. The Grocer is a British magazine devoted to grocery sales. ...

In January 2007, Asda lauched www.asda-electricals.co.uk to compete with Tesco's highly successful Tesco Direct. This new venture is part of its online business, with more than 3,000 domestic and home electrical products. Asda's long term ambition to capture 5% of the £1.9bn market by 2012. Recently, the company sold its Durabrand 1005 DVD player for only £9, the UK's lowest priced DVD player, which sold out in just two days from start of the promotion.

Asda Smart Price

Asda Smart Price is a no-frills private label trade name. The range is in many ways the UK equivalent of the generic brands in US stores. The equivalents from the other of the big four supermarkets are Tesco Value, Sainsbury's Basics and Morrisons Value.

The Smart Price brand can trace its origins to Asda’s Farm Stores brand launched in the mid 1990s, it consisted of products that were offered at a lower price than the equivalent name brand product and ASDA’s own brand equivalent. The Farm Stores brand originally consisted of a small number of food only products, largely frozen such as frozen chips and a small range of ready meals, this range later expanded to include fresh food. In 2000 following the acquisition of Asda by Wal-Mart, the Farm Stores products were phased out and replaced with the new Smart Price brand "based on Wal-Mart's Great Value and Sam's Choice".

Smart Price products are almost always the lowest price option (known as Cheapest On Display) 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 box of Smart Price Biological Washing Powder costs 50 pence while the equivalent Asda brand washing powder costs £1.50 and name brand alternatives cost from two pounds upwards.

The Smart Price label was originally a food only brand, however over the years it has expanded to cover almost every product range in the store. Like early generic products in the US some Smart Price products lack what can be thought of as ‘frills’ in the modern 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 the foil bags common to most name brand versions.

A lot of these products are also sourced from foreign sources.^{[citation needed]}

The Smart Price brand name even has its own groups (or fan clubs) on MySpace and Facebook. MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos. ... Facebook is a social networking website that was launched on February 4, 2004. ...

ASDA reduced the price of a pack of ASDA Smartprice 8 thick pork sausages to 16p meaning a sausage was 2p each. It made the headlines in June 2008 as it was during a credit crunch with higher food prices and a higher cost of living.

Asda Financial Services

Asda has established a financial services division, following in the footsteps of Tesco, Sainsbury's and other retailers. Asda simply attaches its own brand to products provided by other companies. Services they offer include insurance (provided by Norwich Union), credit cards (provided by GE Capital Bank) and loans (provided by The Funding Corporation).^[22] Financial services is a term used to refer to the services provided by the finance industry. ... , For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ... This article is about the supermarket business. ... Norwich Union is an insurance company in the UK. It is the biggest life-insurer in the UK, and has a strong position in motor insurance. ... GE Capital Bank is a brand of GE Consumer Finance, part of the General Electric Company. ...

• 1997-Present: Voted Britain's lowest price supermarket in a survey by Grocer 33 Magazine.
• 2001, 2002, 2003 — Voted a top 10 UK employer by the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Employers Survey, although the merit of Asda being awarded such an award is contested by the GMB.
• 2002 Nestlé Social Commitment Award, awarded by peers in the food industry

For the band, see 1997 (band). ... This article is about the year. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Sunday Times is the name of several Sunday newspapers. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ...

Ethical trading

In 2006, a group of labour rights organisations argued that as part of one of the world's largest companies, Asda is in a position to influence the fashion industry to ensure higher standards for workers throughout the supply chain^{[citation needed]}. Asda has signed up to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) which respects workers rights for freedom of association and a living wage. Implementing this initiative 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 indirect impact on national minimum wages by obliging governments to set them low enough to stop businesses from going elsewhere.^[23] “ETI” redirects here. ...

See also

• 2007 UK petrol contamination
• Supermarkets in the United Kingdom

The 2007 UK petrol contamination problem arose on 28 February 2007 when motorists in South East England reported that their cars were breaking down. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

References

2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 86th day of the year (87th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Guardian. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 339th day of the year (340th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see The Independent (disambiguation). ...

External links

• Asda corporate website
• Asda Travel
• Asda Entertainment
• Asda Finance Website
• Asda "Welcome to our stores" brochurePDF (2.17 MiB)

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