Asda plans to overtake Primark as UK’s biggest clothing retailer

Asda is reportedly planning to overtake Primark as the UK’s biggest clothing retailer, The Telegraph has reported. 

According to the paper, chairman Allan Leighton believes that the supermarket’s clothing brand, George, can help lead a turnaround for the company.

As part of these plans, 100 Asda stores are set to be transformed to make its clothing offering more prominent.

Leighton has welcomed the success of George since he returned as chairman last year, with its strong performance helping to ease financial pressures on the business.

Liz Evans, the managing director of George, told The Telegraph that she hopes new investment will help position George ahead of Primark as the largest seller of clothes by volume in the UK, up from its current position of third. 

She told the paper: “That’s the long-term goal. We’re number one on volume when it comes to kids, but why can’t it be possible overall? 

“We started with Asda price and then we had a relentless focus on fixing availability. We have made staggering progress, but there is still a lot to do. We’ve invested back into hours and the stores, and you can feel it. Allan has referenced the turnaround as Everest, and he’s right. We’re at the start of the recovery.”

She added: “When I joined, it wasn’t a broken business. But candidly, what I would say is that it hasn’t been as strong in recent years in adult clothing, particularly in women’s wear. But if I look at what we’re delivering now, then imagine what we can do when we really get the momentum behind the Asda brand.”

It comes as Leighton is looking to return Asda to growth after Asda swung to a £600m loss last year, as the group faced soaring debt costs and lower sales. 

First quarter sales also fell by 5.9% year-on-year to £5bn this year, though George delivered a like-for-like sales growth of 3.5%, outperforming the fashion market by 2% on volume. 

George’s recent success led to the opening of its first-ever standalone store in Leeds.

The ambition to overtake Primark comes as the discount retailer has seen a recent fall in sales. For its latest half-year results, UK and Ireland sales fell by 4% despite good like-for-like sales growth over Christmas, as the UK clothing retail market struggled over the period. 

This reflected “cautious” consumer sentiment as well as a lack of seasonal purchasing in autumn due to mild weather. 

It last week announced it was looking to cut around 150 roles across Ireland, the UK and the US, with most of the redundancies expected at its Dublin head office.

The job cuts are part of a restructuring proposal to outsource several support function activities to Mumbai-based Accenture, Primark confirmed.