Supermarket group Asda has said it will create 6,000 new jobs this year by opening 15 new stores and revamping 20 others.
The expansion project will cost the UK’s second largest supermarket group £600m and will include a 100,000sq ft superstore in Milton Keynes.
Asda currently has 276 stores across the UK and has around 17.5% of the market. Tesco is the leading chain and has a market share of nearly 30%.
The announcement came on the same day that Asda’s US-based parent company Wal-Mart posted a 16% increase in profits to $3.16bn for its fourth quarter to 31 January 2005.