Last week, Asda announced TDR Capital had acquired the shares of Zuber Issa, who subsequently stepped down from his non-executive role on Asda’s board.

This brings the ownership of Asda by TDR Capital to 67.5%.

Mohsin Issa, who stepped back, external from his executive leadership role in September, owns 22.5 %, while 10% is still held by Walmart.

The GMB trade union said the planned job cuts were “further evidence this model of private equity ownership is bad for workers and bad for the UK economy”.

GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said it was now Asda workers who were “bearing the brunt” to offset what it said was the company’s declining market share.

“Handing hundreds of committed workers a brown envelope and showing them the door is a morally repugnant way to treat your workforce,” she added.

“GMB has concerns Asda has chosen not to follow the current established legal process for mass redundancies. We have sought clarification from them on this point.”

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