Asda announced today it is recruiting an additional 10,000 colleagues in time for Christmas and New Year to complement its existing 10,000 strong seasonal squad. With the nation already thinking about Christmas shopping in order to spread the cost, Asda is bringing in the extra colleagues to meet customer demand.

The seasonal squad are colleagues who are contracted to work at the busiest periods of the year, such as Easter, summer and Christmas and New Year. These seasonal roles not only give colleagues flexibility, but the security of a Christmas job year in, year out plus a number of Asda colleague benefits including discounted shopping.

Supermarket slashes the price of Britons’ favourite fruit to lowest in 14
years

Asda has today slashed the price of bananas to just 47 pence per kilo as it
aggressively lowers prices to save customers money on their weekly shop.

The move sees the supermarket turn back the clock to 1995 … the year Forrest
Gump won best picture at the Oscars, John Major was PM and won his battle to
remain leader of the Conservative Party, OJ Simpson was arrested in a high
speed car chase and bananas were last on sale in Asda at 47p/kg.

Only a month ago the price of bananas at Asda was 84p/kg, making this the
fourth price cut in as many weeks – a dramatic 56 per cent reduction.

Today’s move sees the supermarket drop the price by a further 10 pence per
kilo.

£8 vaccine set to relieve pressure on overstretched NHS and undercut rival retailers.

Today Asda is increasing the number of in-store clinics fourfold to help cope with an expected upsurge in demand for seasonal flu vaccinations this year.

By offering the £8 vaccine, Asda is looking to ease pressure on struggling medical centres and hospitals who are already planning to cope with a second wave of swine flu after the number of cases in Britain almost doubled last week.

Asda is undercutting rival retailers such as Boots, who charge £12.99, and Tesco and Morrisons, where the vaccine costs £10.

No customer will pay more than 101.9ppl for petrol and 102.9ppl for diesel

Asda today announced it has once again lowered the price of petrol and diesel at all 179 of its forecourts across the UK.

From this morning no customer will pay more than 101.9 pence per litre for petrol and 102.9 pence per litre for diesel when filling up at any of the supermarket’s forecourts.

With average UK pump prices yesterday at 105.8ppl for petrol and 106.8ppl for diesel, motorists will save an average of £2.20 filling up a 55 litre tank at Asda this weekend.

The move pushes back the supermarket’s petrol price to a penny a litre less than it was before the fuel duty increase kicked in at the start of September and sees diesel match its pre-duty increase price.

Asda slashes 2p off litre of petrol as cost prices Fall and US Dollar weakens

ASDA today (Friday 11th September 2009) announced it was cutting the price of petrol by 2p per litre and diesel by a penny. As a result, the maximum price drivers will pay at any of its 179 forecourts is 102.9 for unleaded and 103.9 for diesel.

The supermarket confirmed it was passing on the benefits of falling cost prices and the weakening US dollar, and immediately challenged other retailers to follow its lead, many of whom are continuing to charge more than 107p for a litre of fuel.

David Miles, ASDA’s Commercial Director said: "Once again we have led the way by passing on the benefits of lower costs to our customers as quickly as possible. While others try to bamboozle drivers with money off vouchers and plastic points, we prefer to lower our prices.

48 per cent of shoppers buy gifts in September to spread the cost of Christmas

The impact of the credit crunch is still riding high according to new research released today. Almost half of Asda shoppers are already buying Christmas gifts, with 75 per cent claiming that it’s to lighten the financial burden of Christmas and spread the festive costs.

A third of shoppers are also planning to spend considerably less than last year, with 80 per cent of those hoping to spend up to £250 less this year. According to reports, the average spend on just Christmas presents in 2008 was £320 per person, meaning consumers are planning to make considerable cut backs this year.

• Inflation hits lowest level since February 2005
• 5.2% year on year increase in discretionary income of average UK household
• Typical UK household has £160 a week discretionary income

The average UK family is £8 a week better off compared to August 2008 as inflation hits its lowest level since February 2005. As a result, the average household had £160 a week of discretionary income in August 2009, 5.2 per cent higher than a year earlier. Food price inflation fell in August from July taking it to its lowest level in three years.

According to the latest Income Tracker report, gross income rose by £4 a week in August 2009 compared with a year earlier. After tax, the average family had £1 a week more net income than in August 2008. This was the smallest annual increase in gross income since April due to a weakening of earnings growth, a continued rise in unemployment and an increase in cost of some essential items such as fuel.

Today, George at Asda launches an Asian clothing range – a first for both supermarkets and the high street. The launch is in response to huge demand from Asda customers for authentic cultural clothing at affordable prices.

The 13 piece collection includes sequin and embellished Salwaar Kameez (traditional suits), Khurtas (tunics), Dapata (scarves) and Churidar (slim leg trousers). The collection has been designed in conjunction with a team in India and is made with authentic Indian material. Prices start from a competitive £7, with a complete suit for £26 – a fraction of the price of independent retailers that can charge up to £60 for similar suits.

Today sees the hugely anticipated launch of Dan Brown’s latest novel The Lost Symbol (the next instalment to the previous international bestsellers, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons) and supermarket Asda has announced it will be selling the book for an astonishingly low £5.

Sparking a price war which the supermarket expects will prompt its competitors to drop their prices as well, Asda today says the book’s iconic price is making the new book accessible and affordable to all.