Posted: Monday, January 23, 2012 3:00 pm

Asda today announced that it will invest over £500m in its UK stores and depots in 2012, helping to create up to 5,000 new jobs across the country.

The supermarket confirmed plans to open 25 new stores and three depots in 2012 – as well as plans to extend and refurbish 43 of its existing stores.

Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed the announcement, saying;“The additional investment and 5,000 new jobs announced by Asda today will be a real boost for the economy and more importantly for people around Britain seeking jobs.“I also welcome Asda’s commitment to not only create jobs but invest in their staff too; offering employees the chance to join an apprenticeship scheme to gain skills which will benefit them throughout their career.”

Asda’s new stores will add over 600,000 square feet of net selling space to Asda, through superstores, small format supermarkets and Asda Living.

Asda says that the new depots will add additional capacity and efficiency to it's logistics network, enabling it to meet planned organic growth. The new depot in Rochdale will service chilled and frozen products to stores along the M62 corridor.

The replacement depot in Scotland increases capacity for delivery of groceries to stores in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The investment in Yorkshire will upgrade a depot that originally formed part of the Netto chain into a state-of-the-art ‘cross dock’ allowing products to be shipped in and out in minimal time.

Over the past five years, Asda’s distribution team have delivered almost 25 per cent more products, despite driving 19m fewer miles – these three new depots take an additional one million miles off the road.

The new recruits will join the 30,000 plus colleagues who joined the Asda team in 2011 through new jobs and recruitment into existing vacancies. These include over 14,000 young people and over 8,500 recruited through Job Centre Plus.

Asda, which is part of the Walmart family, currently employs over 180,000 people in 528 stores and depots across the UK, and is the second largest supermarket in the UK.

CEO of Walmart, Doug McMillon, said: “Our continued investment is because we see a tremendous opportunity in front of us – I’m proud of the difference you’re making and that we can make an even bigger difference in the lives of our customers and the communities we serve”.

Andy Clarke, President and CEO of Asda said;“I am delighted to be able to start 2012 on such a positive note, doing what we do best – creating new jobs, working with new communities and bringing Asda’s low prices to families who need the value we can bring.“I look forward to seeing these new stores and depots open for business and welcoming new colleagues and customers to our team.”