Up to 1,200 jobs at risk as Asda plans to cut in-store bakeries

Leeds-based supermarket chain Asda has started consulting with more than 1,000 staff over its plans to overhaul its in-store bakeries.

The company said that it was treating redundancy as "the last option" during the consultations, which it said was sparked by changing tastes among shoppers.

As many as 1,200 staff work at the in-store bakeries across 341 Asda branches.

"If the proposals are enacted, the priority will be to move as many colleagues as possible into alternative roles within Asda, with redundancy the last option," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Customers are increasingly looking for speciality breads, wraps, bagels and pancakes ahead of traditional loaves.

The shift will see a centralised bakery delivering a larger range of pre-baked goods to supermarkets each day, replacing the current model where the goods are baked on-site.

It follows a similar move from Tesco in February last year.