Asda plans 300 new UK convenience stores, creating 10,000 jobs

Supermarket hopes to grab bigger share of burgeoning sector, possibly threatening Sainsbury's second position

Asda is planning to open 300 convenience stores and create 10,000 new jobs in the next four years as it tries to grab a bigger share of the grocery market and potentially overtake rival Sainsbury's to become the UK's second largest supermarket.

The retailer, which is controlled by the billionaire Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital, currently has just two Asda Express stores - in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, and Tottenham Hale, in north London.