Asda to cut 300 jobs at Leeds head office

Hundreds of jobs are under threat at the Leeds headquarters of supermarket giant Asda.

Up to 300 jobs are believed to be going. The company said losses were in the "low hundreds" and it was talking to workers about "the certainty of permanent structural change".

Asda employs nearly 3,000 staff at its head office on Great Wilson Street.

In a statement the firm said it had to make "difficult but necessary decisions".

'Major challenges'

A spokesperson said: "It's well documented that in recent years, customers have radically changed the way they shop.

"We were the first of the "big four" to recognise this and launch a new strategy in 2013 yet the external pressures have accelerated at an increasingly rapid rate over the last 18 months.

"As a result, the industry faces major challenges and the certainty of permanent structural change. In the context of this, we also have to further change the way we do business.

"Today, we have started to talk to our colleagues in head office functions about what this means for them.

"We have made some difficult but necessary decisions but we must discuss these with our colleagues before we talk publicly."

Last month Asda, which is in the middle of a five year strategy to reshape its business, announced £500m of price cuts to try to reduce the gap in prices with rivals Aldi and Lidl.