Issa brothers introduce four-day week at Asda

She said: “Asda has been forced to accept that all is not well amongst their managers and are attempting to address some of the issues by trialling a reduction in managers’ weekly working hours.

“Unfortunately, this does not address the realities on the shopfloor; traders not being left to trade to their local communities and a continuing decline in the resources available to do their job.

“At some point, Asda will have to accept that a radical overhaul is needed if it wants to attract the talent required to make Asda a success.”

The supermarket’s operations have come under increasing scrutiny in recent months, as Mohsin has been hauled before MPs on two occasions to answer questions about Asda.

A senior industry source said Asda’s problems stem from Mohsin holding too much power at the top: “This is a business with 140,000 people and armies run on leadership – you want the whole army marching in step.

“The problem is that you have got a chief executive who doesn’t understand that scale of business. There seems to be a disconnect between what’s happening in his head and what’s happening on the ground.

“You just need to look at market share. Tesco and Sainsbury’s are having it away while Asda is in the toilet.”

An Asda spokesman said: “Since September 2023, we have been trialling a variety of flexible working patterns for managers in 20 stores, including a four-day working week for the same pay and benefits.  

“There has been no reduction in the number of hours that hourly-paid colleagues are contracted to work as a result of this trial.

“While we are still evaluating the results, the feedback from participating colleagues has been very positive.

“Asda has also invested a total of £325m in increasing pay for both store-based and logistics colleagues since 2022. For the record, Asda saw a 6pc reduction in colleague turnover between 2022 and 2023.”