// Asda senior staff are preparing to stage an exodus
// Headhunters said that they had been contacted by several Asda executives looking to exit
// Some Asda executives decided to leave as they would no longer be able to take part in Walmart’s sharesave scheme
Asda senior staff are reportedly preparing to stage an exodus at the Big 4 grocer after receiving final payouts from a share scheme run by its US owner.
Headhunters said that they had been contacted by several Asda executives looking to exit, with one saying that the level of inquiries was much higher than normal for the sector.
Walmart completed its £6.8 billion sale of Asda to the Issa brothers and TDR Capital in February.
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Asda employees were eligible to take part in Walmart’s sharesave scheme, with stock held over the past three years vesting this month.
Some Asda executives had decided to leave because they would no longer be able to take part in Walmart’s scheme, The Times reported.
Asda has restructured its staff bonus opportunities to mitigate the loss of the Walmart share scheme.
Staff can receive between 100 per cent and 200 per cent of their salary in cash bonuses, depending on their seniority.
Asda said it recently hired Sam Dickson from Waitrose as a new vice-president, while Carl Dawson had left his chief information officer role at Marks & Spencer to take the same post at Asda.
Asda chief executive Roger Burnley said that he had made the “personal” decision to leave following speculations that the new owners had been looking for his replacement since Christmas.
Burnley said he couldn’t see himself committing to another five years, “which is quite a long time”.
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