There are calls on Asda to take 'urgent action' to 'protect jobs' in Swindon and across the UK after data shows sales figures are falling. 

The GMB union has now described Asda as being in a 'fight for survival' for the chain after data revealed its sales fell 6 per cent in the three months of August 4 reducing the retailer's share of the take-home grocery market to 12.6 per cent - the lowest level in at least 13 years.

As reported by The Guardian, Nadine Houghton, national officer for the GMB union, which represents thousands of Asda staff, said the union would write to government ministers to “raise our concerns around job protection and value for consumers”.

The business was purchased by billionaire Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital for £6.8b in 2020, but Houghton has said that decisions to cut staffing hours had led to lower standards and a loss of customer trust. 

“Asda’s plummeting market share is entirely down to TDR Capital’s financial mismanagement and Asda is now in a fight for survival," she said. 

Swindon has two prominent Asda supermarkets that are the lynchpin of their respective retail areas in the town. 

The Asda supermarket at North Swindon's Orbital Shopping Park and the one are West Swindon's West Swindon District Centre have been important fixtures for a number of years, employing hundreds of people. 

But while job losses are not on the horizon just yet, the downward trajectory of Asda's financial fortunes has led Ms Houghton to fear for the future of staff employed by them, which would include these two stores.

She said: “It's time for TDR Capital to get serious – over 150,000 jobs are on the line if they get this wrong. TDR must start listening to its workers to arrest this worrying and dramatic decline.”

In a statement also provided to The Guardian, an Asda spokesperson said: “We recognise and accept that there are areas that need improvement and have set out the priorities we need to focus on to address that challenge.”

They added: "Unlike our competitors, Asda is undertaking an extensive period of transformation.

“While we have recognised that our recent sales performance is not reflective of where we want to be, Asda remains firmly the third largest supermarket in the country. We delivered total revenue growth, excluding fuel, of 2 per cent in the first half of 2024 and continue to see growth in both our online division and George business.”

TDR Capital declined to comment when approached by the national newspaper.