1920

In the beginning…

Our ASDA roots can be traced back to the 1920s and have two branches:

The Asquith family (W.R. Asquith) had an original family business, a butchers shop in Knottingley, West Yorkshire. The two sons of W.R. Asquith, Peter and Fred were actively involved in the family business and were later to become co–founders of ASDA.

At the same time, during the 1920s a group of enterprising West Riding Dairy Farmers joined forces, under the banner of Hindell’s Dairy Farmers Ltd. These included the Stockdale family (Arthur Stockdale) and a subsidiary company, Craven Dairies Ltd, was formed.

1960

The Asquith brothers meet Noel Stockdale

By the early 1960s Associated Dairies had expanded their number of pork butchery shops (under the ‘Farm Stores’ facia) and also created the facia ‘Craven Dairies’ for its cake shops and cafes.

The son of Arthur Stockdale, Noel, (later to become Sir Noel Stockdale) met and struck up an immediate rapport with the Asquith brothers and was to become the other co–founder of the future ASDA.

"None of this would have happened without Noel" Peter Asquith would say later.

1963

The first self service supermarket

In 1963, Peter Asquith, a butcher, and his brother Fred a teacher ("in our family the bright ones became teachers, and the rest were butchers" said Peter, the Butcher), converted an old cinema (which had originally been a theatre called The Queens) in Castleford, West Yorkshire, to a self service supermarket.

This was quickly followed by a second supermarket (an old indoor market) at Edlington, near Doncaster. Both these stores traded under the facia of Queens.

1964

The first customer discounts!

The Asquith’s discovered the attraction of discounting to customers almost by accident.

Crosse & Blackwell were offering a 6d (2½ p) postal order for every soup label returned. Their buyer, Jack Hewitt (later to become Managing Director of ASDA) spotted an opportunity and ordered 1,000 cans of soup.

They then spent the next few days cutting off 24,000 labels for redemption and offering the cans of soup at a reduced price. The concept of food discounting and offering customers value for money had arrived.

1965

The Birth of ‘ASDA’

By 1965 Peter was building the first new supermarket from scratch, at South Elmsall (near Pontefract) on the site of the old Palace Cinema and adjacent to a large municipal car park.

It was around this time that Peter Asquith was looking for a company to take over his instore butchery operation and he made contact with Associated Dairies.

Discussions followed between Peter Asquith and Noel Stockdale and a new company was formed.

ASquith + DAiries = the birth of ASDA

1966

The real start of ASDA’s growth

A fourth store was opened at Wakefield (Southgate). Peter also had the great foresight to link growing car ownership with food shopping and to seek sites which had the benefit of adjacent municipal car parks.

By March 1966 a fifth store was opened at Whitkirk (Leeds) on the site of an old cattle market. The first move outside the Yorkshire heartland happened in September 1966 in the centre of Billingham (Teesside).

ASDA were clearly on the march…

1968

G.E.M. and the arrival of superstores

The next leap in the ASDA success story was one of great courage and vision. An American discount operator called G.E.M. (Government Exchange Mart) had two large stores in the UK, at this time G.E.M was a major U.S. retailer.

IG.E.M.’s first site was an 80,000 sq ft store with 1,000 space car park at Nottingham (West Bridgford). A second store was opened at Leeds (Crossgates).

Both these stores were struggling and both Sainsbury and Tesco had turned down the sites. However Peter Asquith was confident that he could make a success of these stores despite the fact that he saw "at least as many staff as customers" and sales were a measly £6,000 a week (food). Peter estimated that he could take the sales to £25,000 a week.

G.E.M. had accumulated losses of £320,000 and offered to sell the two stores for 20% of whatever ASDA could recoup from the Inland Revenue as tax losses. ASDA got the whole amount and so acquired the two stores for nothing! The rent was ten shillings (50p) a square foot on a 21 year lease with no rent reviews.

This must go down as one of the bargains of the grocery industry… With ASDA’s retailing skills applied, Peter’s estimate of £25,000 a week was exceeded as Nottingham took £30,000 in its first week!

The acquisition of the G.E.M. stores and their phenomenal success led to a complete re–appraisal of how big a supermarket could be. It also provided ASDA with the space and opportunity to develop its own range of General Merchandise, which later was to become key to ASDA’s growth and profitability, also it broke from the traditional 10–20,000 square foot mould to stores of 40–60,000 square foot. This gave ASDA a massive lead over its rivals who were locked into smaller high street sites.

1970

Pioneering one stop shopping

To expand the new superstore trading format, petrol filling stations were added. Once again, it was Peter Asquith who pioneered this.

By 1970 ASDA had over 30 stores, with eight stores over 50,000 sq ft, and was poised to expand beyond its northern heartland in the south.

It was at this stage – despite the great entrepreneurial flair of its founders – that ASDA now needed more experienced and professional management to take it to the next phase of its growth.

1971

Peter Firmston–Williams appointed as M.D

Peter Firmston–Williams was appointed M.D. of ASDA in 1971, having been M.D. of Key Markets. It was his role to preside over ASDA’s expansion into the south with new stores to come.

This is where ASDA really began to move nationwide.

1978

Southern expansion reaches its peak

The southern expansion of the ASDA business went from strength to strength in the early 70’s. By 1978, 4 key stores had been opened outside of ASDA’s northern regions.

There were stores at Newport (Wales) which had opened in 1973, Plymouth which opened in 1976 and Gosport which had been developed in 1977.

This era culminated with H.M. the Queen opening the Shopping Centre at South Woodham Ferrer's in 1978.

1981

Diversification and slow–down

By the time Peter Firmston–Williams left the business in 1981, ASDA had 80 stores totalling 3 million sq ft of selling space. However, the expansion in the south east was expensive and growth was slowing down.

However, also during this period, Associated Dairies had embarked upon a programme of diversification;

• Allied Carpets
• Wades Furniture
• ASDA Property
• ASDA Drive

The business was selling everything from baked beans… to motor cars when John Fletcher was appointed M.D. in 1981 having come from Jimmy Gullivers Oriel Foods. Also, at this time, the UK economy was slowing down and unemployment was rising.

Fletcher’s strategy to improve profitability was to increase margins of branded foods (rather than to develop own labels). Whilst there was short term improvement, this led to a loss of price competitiveness and a steady decline in customer numbers, as ASDA strayed away from its founding principles and its core business. John Fletcher subsequently left ASDA in 1984 to be replaced by John Hardman, who had previously held the post of finance director.

1985

The M.F.I. Merger

M.F.I. (Mullard Furniture Industries) and ASDA formed a merger in May 1985, which was, at the time, seen as an opportunity to slow the expensive expansion in the south over the past 5 years.

It was proclaimed as a "£2 billion marriage… and a launch pad for major expansion".

1986

Noel Stockdale receives a knighthood

In 1986, the year of his retirement, Noel Stockdale received a knighthood in recognition of his business achievements. Under Sir Noel’s leadership, Associated Dairies attained a top 30 listing in the FTSE 100.

Upon his retirement Sir Noel handed over the reigns to David Dunne, who was appointed non exec chairman with John Hardman continuing as M.D.

1987

M.F.I. is sold in a management buyout

In the years following the acquisition it proved to have been a drain on management resources, producing little return. M.F.I. was subsequently sold in 1987 through a management buy out for £500m.

It was also during the 80’s that ASDA moved away from almost total supplier direct deliveries into stores. Work commenced in 1987 on building 7 brand new distribution centres strategically located throughout the UK at Falkirk, Wakefield, Wigan, Bristol, Dartford and 2 at Lutterworth, all of which became fully operational in 1989.

1988

The new ASDA House HQ is opened

In 1988 ASDA moved its headquarters from its existing building (an old converted mill in Morley) with a collection of seven other sites around the Leeds area to a new 21,000 sq ft state of the art office complex for a cost of £15m, which was opened by Margaret Thatcher.

1989

The ‘George’ brand is born

A major success of this period was the foundation of the George Davis partnership and the introduction of George clothing into 65 stores in February 1989.

This was to prove to be one of the major contributing factors to ASDA’s future resurgence – though few would have imagined that one day "George" would become the largest volume clothing brand in the UK!

Despite some of these high points, there were storm clouds rising with increasing costs and a falling customer base.

However, despite the foreboding signs the ASDA board made a successful bid for 61 Gateway stores in April 1989 for £750m – a sum which many city analysts considered far too high. This acquisition increased the number of ASDA stores to 192.

1990

Off the rails

In the early 90’s, costs were rising and the ASDA offer, which had been so successful in its northern heartland, was struggling to attract and keep the more affluent customers in the south east.

To combat declining profits, gross margins were driven upwards through higher prices, resulting in fewer customers. More importantly, ASDA was slowly discarding the basic brand values of the company as embodied in its original "value for money" proposition to customers. ASDA was starting on what would later be referred to as "a doom loop" scenario.

Alongside this, the increased borrowing needed to finance the Gateway acquisition coincided with dramatically higher interest rates, resulting in a crippling debt burden of £1 billion.

To cap it all ASDA experienced severe problems with the management and supply to stores of fresh foods through the new national centralised distribution centres thus costing £16 million on the bottom line.

Early in 1991 there was a real danger that ASDA would default on some of its debt covenants. There followed a number of profit warnings and a shareholder revolt. The top team paid the price; John Hardman resigned along with Graham Stow. Sir Godfrey Messervy was appointed as interim chairman until Patrick Gillam was appointed chairman in September 1991.

The stage was now set for the Archie Norman phenomenon!

1991

The Norman conquest

The new dawn for ASDA began in December 1991 with the arrival of its new C.E.O. Archie Norman, a 37 year old Cambridge and Harvard graduate, who had already had successful careers with both Kingfisher (as group finance director) and McKinsey (where he was a partner).

At this time Archie was the youngest C.E.O. of a FTSE 100 company – although some city analysts questioned his wisdom in taking on what was seen as a "basket case" company!

Taking over the reins of a company which had totally lost its direction, had been strangled by a £1 billion debt burden and whose share price was as low as 27p required bold action and clarity of strategic direction.

Archie declared his starting point as ‘Day Zero’ and began his Herculean task by rebuilding his senior team. Thus entered the other key player in ASDA’s recovery – Allan Leighton, the 39 year old former "veteran" of Mars, latterly as sales director of Pedigree Foods.

The credit for reversing ASDA’s fortunes are primarily due to the immense and complementary talents of Archie and Allan, who were joined by two other members of the top team; Phil Cox (Finance Director) and the sole survivor of the Hardman board, Tony Campbell (Trading Director).

1992

From doom loop to virtuous circle

The steps in achieving financial stability was the introduction of a company wide pay freeze and a shareholder emergency rights issue which raised £350 million.

Following a rigorous analysis a new strategy was developed and implemented;

The ASDA Way of Working (A.W.W.)

The previous culture at ASDA had been a Q1 style of management (i.e. "tell and do") with hierarchical structures and too many layers. A.W.W. provided a framework for a new organisational structure – it made the stores the heroes and promoted colleague involvement.

A mission statement was developed along with 6 fundamental values and from this point onwards everyone working in the business would be referred to as "colleagues".

The word "renewal" also entered the ASDA vocabulary, to mean;

• To physically renew the fabric of a store building
• To radically alter the space given to shop floor departments
• To transform the management style to be consistent with A.W.W. culture

1993

Value stores and dales

New, experimental formats were trialled with limited range options and a unique pricing structure which was intended to take on the new continental discounters.

These and other initiatives helped to turn the tide and at the end of the first year the £1 billion debt mountain had shrunk to £76 million and sales volumes were up 27%.

ASDA had rediscovered its core values and customers were returning to find a revitalised ASDA – the return of "ASDA Price – Pocket the Difference". ASDA had returned to its roots!

1995

ASDA recovers as a major force in UK retailing

In 1995 recovery had been achieved and the next phase "BREAKOUT" was launched.

Archie and Allan not only saved ASDA from disaster but transformed it into a major force in UK retailing. Archie subsequently left ASDA to pursue a career in politics, and in 1997 he was elected Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells.

1999

Joining the Wal–Mart Family

While most retail commentators were trying to digest the consequences of a proposed £18bn merger between ASDA and Kingfisher, that market move proved to be no more than a smokescreen hiding the real action!

Days before the Kingfisher deal was due to be approved by shareholders, Wal–Mart made a £6.7bn offer that ASDA simply couldn’t refuse and the superstore that had stolen many of Wal–Mart’s ideas as part of its own recovery, finally came home to Bentonville and part of the world’s biggest and best retailer.

The pace ever since has been relentless.

2000

April – From the boardroom to the checkout, the Wal–Mart All Colleague Bonus was introduced.

August – The First ASDA Wal–Mart Supercentre opens at Patchway – over 93,000 sq feet of retail heaven!

2002

March – For the first time, ASDA was named the top company to work for by the Sunday Times. Over following years similar accolades followed with ASDA named top company to work for in Europe by Fortune magazine.

June – ASDA’s largest Wal–Mart Super centre opens at Sportcity opposite the Commonwealth Games stadium, helping kick–start the regeneration of East Manchester.

September – Our local sourcing programme goes live in Cumbria with local food Group, Plumgarths supplying local products to Kendal store.

2003

June – Data from Taylor Nelson Sofres shows that for the first time total sales at ASDA have outstripped those at Sainsbury’s.

October – The first George Standalone Store opens in Leeds

2004

June – Industry bible "The Grocer" announces that ASDA has been named Britain’s best value retailer for a record seventh consecutive year.

August – ASDA overtakes M&S to become the UK’s biggest clothing retailer by volume.

September – Our 100th photo centre opens at Tamworth.

October – The first ASDA Living Store opens in Walsall.

November – With Children in Need and Tickled Pink over for another year, ASDA announces its colleagues suppliers and customers have helped raise over £21m since Wal–Mart acquired it in 1999.

2005

2005 is the 40th Anniversary of ASDA.

January – Tony DeNunzio awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List.

March – Tony DeNunzio leaves ASDA to become Chairman of Vendex KBB and Deputy Chairman of MFI.

April – Andy Bond is appointed as ASDA’s new Chief Executive

2006

February – ASDA launches its great value wedding dresses for only £60

March – The George brand moves into homeware for the first time building on its previous growth and success

May – An eco–friendly catch of the day promotion is introduced on all fish counters in ASDA stores

June – ASDA wins Grocer Best Price Supermarket award for the 9th year running

July – ASDA announces its target to send zero waste to landfill by 2010

2007

February – ASDA commits to reducing packaging on it’s own label food products by 25%, before the end of 2008.

July – ASDA becomes the first retailer to launch ‘Challenge 25’, a ground breaking scheme to combat under–age alcohol sales.

September – ASDA’s 160,000 colleagues celebrated being named ‘Multiple Environmental Retailer of the Year’ at the prestigious Retail Industry Awards, staged in London.

December – ASDA announced that it would become the first UK food retailer to remove artificial colours and flavours from all 12000 of its own brand food and soft drinks.

2008 so far…

January – ASDA announces it will be the first retailer to fine drivers for the misuse of disabled and parent/child parking bays in its car parks; with all profits going to baby charity Tommy’s and Motability, the national charity which provides a car scheme for people with disabilities.

February – ASDA marks a successful 2007 by giving its 127,000 store and depot colleagues a share of the record £21 million bonus pool.

February – ASDA launches its first ever monthly income tracker, a detailed economic report assessing the health of the nation’s finances.