Staff at a former Asda supermarket in West London have been made redundant ahead of Lidl taking over the site, despite earlier plans to transfer employees under existing pay and conditions.
The Asda store at Ivybridge Retail Park in Isleworth closed on June 5 ahead of a major refurbishment. Lidl is expected to open a new supermarket on the site later this year.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands Lidl had initially agreed with Asda to transfer all 37 employees under TUPE regulations, which are designed to protect workers’ pay, conditions and employment rights when a business changes ownership.
However, an email seen by the LDRS confirmed that redundancies could not be avoided.
The company told affected staff: “We want to ensure these colleagues have a clear pathway back to the store.”
“We have advised all affected employees that they will be guaranteed an interview for the new Isleworth store as soon as we begin the recruitment process ahead of our opening.”
Lidl said it had spent several weeks consulting with staff while exploring alternative employment opportunities.
The company said the former Asda building would require more than six months of refurbishment before reopening as a Lidl store, making it impossible to retain employees during that period.
According to an email sent to staff, Lidl examined the possibility of redeploying workers to nearby stores but said there were too few vacancies available.
“We looked extensively into transferring the affected employees to surrounding Lidl stores; however, due to very limited vacancy availability at nearby locations, we were unfortunately unable to secure alternative employment for them,” the email stated.
“As a result, the former Asda colleagues were made redundant on 24 June.”
The LDRS understands all affected staff have been guaranteed interviews for roles at the new Isleworth store once recruitment begins. However, there is no guarantee they will be rehired or that any new roles would match their previous pay and employment conditions.
Lidl declined to provide an official comment.
The decision has drawn criticism from local representatives.
Cllr Salman Shaheen, Isleworth ward councillor and Hounslow Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Public Realm, accused Lidl of failing to honour assurances given during discussions with local politicians.
He said: “When Cllr Sue Sampson, Ruth Cadbury MP and I wrote to Lidl, urging them to rule out compulsory redundancies, they told us they’d do everything they could to avoid them.
“In the end, they’ve done the exact opposite.”
“They’ve made everyone redundant, with no guarantee of getting their old job back, only the paltry promise of an interview, and no protection of workers’ existing pay and conditions as they would have received under TUPE.
“Lidl’s products may be cheap, but sadly it seems so is their talk.”
Despite the criticism, Lidl said it remained committed to completing the redevelopment as quickly as possible and looked forward to opening the new Isleworth store later this year.
