The largest part of the UK retail industry is UK Supermarket Industry which is one of the most established one. However, due to the increase in the number of large supermarket chains since the last 10 years, the UK market has witnessed the sharp decrease of independent retailers to half.
The UK Supermarket industry is mainly dominated by four big players for a decade now. Tesco is considered as the largest one while ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons follow the suit. Let’s have a look at these four big supermarket chains.
Tesco
Tesco, established in 1919, is a public limited grocery and general retail company. This is the largest retailer in the country & is serving millions of customers every week. They have now spread their operation
across 12 countries and have established over 6,553 stores in the UK. Headquartered in Hertfordshire, UK, Tesco offers a wide range of products. You will get anything from books to clothing, electronics to furniture, toys to petrol and even software. They also offer financial services, telecom and internet services.
Tesco employs more than 460,000 employees today. It also operates a number of subsidiaries such as Tesco Stores Ltd., Tesco Bank, Tesco Mobile, Tesco Ireland, Tesco Kipa, Tesco Family Dining Ltd., Dunnhumby, Spenhill etc.
ASDA
ASDA was established in 1965 & currently is the second largest retailer chain in the UK. Since 1999, it is operating as a subsidiary of Walmart, America’s largest retailer. ASDA Head office is located in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They gained a huge market share because of their incredibly low pricing and have been awarded “Lowest Price Supermarket” by The Grocer magazine consecutively for the past 11 years. They offer a wide range of groceries, general merchandise & financial services across 525 stores in the country.
You can phone Asda on 0843 504 7224 for customer service and any other enquiries. Asda Head Office helpline number 0113 243 5435 also can be dialled by staff, customers and suppliers for any concern.
Sainsbury’s
J Sainsbury’s Plc is a public limited food retailer & is the third largest food retailer in the UK. They have around 16.3% market share of the total market. It was established in 1869 and is one of the oldest market players in the country. J Sainsbury’s Plc operates three sub-groups such as Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd, Sainsbury’s Bank and Sainsbury’s Argos.
Their headquarters is located in Holborn, London. Today, they own more than 1,415 stores including supermarkets & convenience stores and also operate an online store. They offer a huge variety of food items, general merchandise, clothing, financial services and property investment.
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc, also a public limited retailer, was established in 1899. It is the fourth largest supermarket chain in the UK. Today, they are operating around 500 outlets across the country. They launched their online shopping portal in 2014 and has attained at least 11% market share.
Morrisons acquired Safeway in 2004. It is estimated that about 11 million customers shop in Morrisons every week. Today, they employ almost 132,000 employees in the country.
