Asda to reward staff with bonus despite not hitting targets

The decision comes after what has been described as a turbulent year for the company.

Allan Leighton, the Executive Chairman of Asda, has confirmed that around 9,500 salaried staff, including head office and senior store managers, will receive a thank you payment at the end of the month.

This is despite some teams having missed their annual targets.

Despite the supermarket’s continued struggles, Leighton told staff in a memo that “there was still significant effort, commitment and progress made under challenging circumstances”.

The payouts will be determined by a worker’s particular grade. Those who have met all of their targets will receive their full bonus, while those in teams below target will receive a partial payout, per the Telegraph, which first reported the memo.

It applied to any salaried colleague who joined before 1 October 2025.

“In recognition of all the hard work undertaken during the first year of our turnaround, we have confirmed that all eligible salaried colleagues will receive a thank you bonus in their March pay,” an Asda spokesman said. “This has been well received,” he added.

The payout – which follows the return of Asda’s ‘Tell Allan’ feedback initiative – contrasts with last year, when there was fury among some Asda staff after bonuses for managers were scrapped.

Asda is set to report full-year results on 27 March, and Leighton is hoping to boost morale across the business to breathe new life into his turnaround plan, which was set back by around six months following the botched final stage of its Project Future IT project.

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During Christmas, it was the only supermarket to lose market share.

However, according to The Grocer , there are signs that the bleed is slowing, with its market share down 2.6% in the 12 weeks to 22 February according to the latest data from Worldpanel by Numerator.

It was an improvement on the 3.7% fall in the 12 weeks to 25 January.

“I’m just looking for signs of progress, and there are signs of progress,” Leighton told The Grocer x Retail Week LIVE conference last week, on Asda’s market share performance.

“I’ve said from the beginning, this is [going to take] three to five years. You do not turn these things around in a short amount of time.”