Asda owners plan to create 32,000 jobs through EG Group food expansion | Business News

EG Group, the petrol station and food retail business run by Asda’s owners, has announced plans to create 32,000 jobs globally over the next five years, with the bulk of them in the UK.

The company, owned by brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity group TDR Capital, said its expansion would include 22,700 new roles in its home market.

Most of them would come from rolling out its bakery chain Cooplands and fast food brand LEON – both bought in 2021 – across EG’s petrol forecourt network.

EG said it also planned more food service concessions within stores at Asda – snapped up by the brothers and TDR in 2020 for £6.8bn.

The company said new jobs would also come from accelerating openings for its existing third-party brand partners, notably Starbucks and KFC, including drive-thru sites at its own forecourts and in Asda car parks.

The rest of the new jobs, the statement said, would come from “organic growth” in the nine other markets in which it operates: Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Australia and the United States.

The company, chaired by former M&S boss Lord Rose, said it was offering an attractive package to new staff as businesses across the UK, especially in retail and hospitality, struggle to attract workers amid record vacancy levels.

Average hourly pay, it said, was currently £10.05 for UK colleagues, including those at LEON, aged 18 and above.

The Issa brothers said: “We are proud to be a business founded in Britain that invests in job creation worldwide, while focusing heavily on the training and development of colleagues.

“EG has a strong track record of providing colleagues with long-term opportunities to progress their career at all levels ‒ and we are passionate about continuing this.”