News: Rotherham Netto stores to change hands

Three Netto supermarkets in Rotherham are to set to change hands after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced a major milestone in Asda's purchase of Netto's UK stores.



Subject to final OFT approval, 147 Netto stores in the UK will be converted to Asda Supermarkets by late Autumn 2011 including Rotherham stores at Parkgate and Wath.

Asda announced the deal, reported to be worth £778m, in May 2010 and the retailer plans to significantly increase the number of people employed at each of their Netto stores as part of plans to create 7,500 new jobs across the UK in 2011.

Judith McKenna, Asda chief financial officer, who led the deal said: "We're delighted that we're one step closer to completing our acquisition of the Netto stores, which will allow us to provide even more space, choice and savings to our millions of customers in the UK."

Asda has offered to sell 47 Netto stores across the UK after the OFT raised concerns that competition could be substantially reduced in areas where there are overlapping Asda stores.

As a result, the Netto store on Fitzwilliam Road has been sold to the Haldanes Retail Group and is set to be branded under their "UGO" name. Haldanes took on a number of stores when the Co-operative Group sold outlets following its acquisition of Somerfield in 2009.

Arthur Harris, CEO of The Haldanes Retail Group, said: "UGO will be a flexible, friendly and approachable company with old fashioned ideas and ethics reconstructed where necessary to encompass a modern trading format.

"There is an opportunity in the mid size discount supermarket sector to do something special and I think UGO, with its established store teams, is the brand that can do it."

Netto were progressing plans to relocate the store to larger premises on a former car showroom site nearby.

Asda website
Haldanes website

Images: asda.com