Asda chair admits supermarket’s problems are ‘self-inflicted’

Asda veteran Allan Leighton admitted the supermarket chain’s problems are “self-inflicted” as he looks to turnaround the business following his return as chairman last year.

Leighton, who stepped down as chief executive in 2001, told The Times that the retailer’s previous stewardship under the Issa brothers had “ripped the heart out of the colleagues” when the business cut back on staffing hours to cut costs.

“We had a financial plan but we didn’t have a business plan. There’s a big difference. We have now got a plan, everybody understands what it is we’re trying to do,” he said.

Leighton also admitted that “why we are where we are is largely self-inflicted.”

His comments come as Asda was the only supermarket to see its sales fall over the crucial Christmas trading period, with Kantar reporting a 5.8% fall over the golden quarter.

Leighton told the publication that’s he focused on getting “all the basic stuff right”, such as staff hours, price architecture and discounting.

“It is about getting the range right, getting the price right and getting the availability right. And we’ve got to win the hearts and minds back of our people.

“These are the things that we need to fix, but they’re under our control, they’re not reliant on anybody else to do it,” he said.

Leighton added the business had already improved its availability, up from 90% to 94%, and cut back on its volume of promotions following the return of the supermarket’s Rollback campaign at the start of the year.

Asda came under fire earlier this week as managers reported they had found out about the supermarket’s decision to scrap their annual bonuses when the news broke in the media.

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