Asda is to cut 150 jobs at its Leeds headquarters and 50 at the Lutterworth offices of its George fashion business.

Among those to be made redundant are executive director for property Karen Hubbard, who has been at the retailer for five years.

She oversaw the integration of the Netto business following its acquisition. She will leave at the end of this month.

Hubbard had been “assessing the option of an international role with Walmart but has elected for personal reasons not to pursue an international posting” said Asda chief executive Andy Clarke in a memo to staff.

Hubbard’s responsibilities including estates and acquisitions, construction, and market evaluation will now be handled by chief financial officer Alex Russo.

Chief marketing officer Steve Smith will take up Hubbard’s repsonsibilities for large formats, small formats, macro space, and store planning. In his new role his job title will change to chief customer officer.

The redundancies at Asda are designed to remove duplication in the business and enable it to compete more effectively as the food retail sector changes, reflecting the rise of discounters such as Aldi and Lidl and the growth of multichannel shopping.

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