Asda has restructured its buying team as chief commercial officer Darren Blackhurst pushes on with his “bay by bay” commercial reset, The Grocer can reveal.
Blackhurst wrote to Asda suppliers over the weekend informing them of the changes, which he said would enable a “simpler, faster” approach to Asda’s commercial strategy.
Eight roles have been lost as a result, including category buying managers. However, Asda said it had created nine new positions as a result.
“To drive simplicity and pace we are taking the opportunity to flatten our structure,” Blackhurst wrote in the letter, seen by The Grocer.
Asda has consolidated junior buying roles (so called C8 level) and buying manager roles (so-called C10 level) into a single buying manager level.
At the same time, it is increasing the number senior buying managers to oversee “growth categories”. Five of the newly created roles are senior buying manager positions, The Grocer understands.
The number of trade planning managers, crucial for tweaking the mechanics of Asda’s EDLP and Rollback promotions strategy, has also been increased.
Rather than reflecting a major shift in direction, the restructure would improve Asda’s day to day operations, the supermarket said.
It comes six months after Blackhurst – who returned to the business in July – unveiled a complete “bay by bay” reset of Asda’s offer to 600 of the supermarket’s biggest suppliers in Leeds.
Asda would leave no aisle untouched as part of the range review, which would remove duplication and improve focus on key lines, Blackhurst promised, in a bid to get suppliers to buy into to Allan Leighton’s turnaround plan. Leighton has previously said Asda needed to cull around 6,000 of its slowest-selling SKUS “clogging up stores”.
Read more: Has Asda’s turnaround run out of steam before it’s left the station?
Buyers would also “reset” the relationship with suppliers and focus on rebuilding partnerships that had become strained during Asda’s struggles since its buyout by TDR and the Issa brothers.
“We are making some changes to our food buying teams to support quicker decision-making and maintain a clear focus on delivering value for customers,” an Asda spokesman told The Grocer, confirming the restructure.
“This includes investing to create more senior buying roles and consolidating two buying levels onto one broader buying level. These changes will help teams stay close to their categories and work more effectively with suppliers as we continue to make progress against our Formula for Growth strategy and our commercial agenda.”
Asda turnaround ‘edging forward’
Leighton insisted that Asda was “edging forward” with its turnaround plan, despite full-year results published last week showing further sales decline and profit slump.
Overall sales dropped 3.3% to £2.1bn in the year to 31 December, with like-for-like sales down 3.1%. Adjusted EBITDA, not including rent, was also down by a third (33.1%) to £746m.
The supermarket was now back in growth following the major “whack” from its disastrous project future implementation, Leighton said. Sales grew 1.2% in March, he said.
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