84-676: Northumberland County Ground or the Gosforth Greyhound Stadium was a rugby stadium and greyhound racing stadium in Gosforth , Tyne And Wear . The urban district of Gosforth hosted greyhound racing from 1932 following the revamping of the existing County Athletic Ground. The athletic ground had been in use since 1900 as the Gosforth Cycling Grounds but when greyhound racing plans were passed it underwent major re-construction. The Northumberland Rugby Football Union took out
168-556: A mobile virtual network operator . In February 2021, the Issa brothers and TDR Capital acquired Asda, with Walmart retaining "an equity investment" in Asda, a seat on the board and "an ongoing commercial relationship". The deal came after an acquisition by Sainsbury's was rejected by the Competition and Markets Authority . As of June 2024, the company is majority owned by TDR Capital following
252-483: A 15-day period, except for special circumstances. In any event the competition must be completed within 18 days. Category One races replaced competitions called classic races in the 1990s. Category Two Race These races must have minimum prize money of £5,000. They can be run with one, two or three rounds but must be completed within a 15-day period. Category Three Race These races must have minimum prize money of £1,000. They can be run over one or two rounds and within
336-594: A 15-year lease on the Gosforth Cycling Tracks at a cost of £80 per annum in 1912 (the County finally purchased the ground in 1923).It was situated south of Harewood Road and north of Hollywood Avenue but could be accessed from the Great North Road or Hollywood Avenue, and at the time had a fraction of the housing that exists in the area today. The opening night for greyhound racing was on 21 May 1932 thus becoming
420-402: A distribution centre. That was far above the net book value of the locations, some of which were poorly sited. (Asda has subsequently relocated or rebuilt more than 30 of the original Gateway stores since the late 1990s.) The move left the company overstretched as a result, and by 1991, it found itself in serious financial trouble with over £1 billion of debt; compounding the situation further
504-504: A graded greyhound called Gorton Road won her 100th race. One year later in 1978, Paul Richardson took over as Racing Manager at Brough Park and Gosforth. Rugby arrived on the ground in 1912. The Northumberland Rugby Football Union had taken a 15-year lease on the Gosforth Cycling Tracks at a cost of £80 per annum in 1912 (the County finally purchased the ground in 1923).Two clubs also played there; Northern FC until 1937, and Gosforth (Newcastle Falcons) , until 1955. A brick rugby clubhouse
588-556: A key figure in coursing. Finding other supporters proved to be rather difficult, and with the General Strike of 1926 looming, the two men scoured the country to find others who would join them. Eventually they met Brigadier-General Critchley , who in turn introduced them to Sir William Gentle . Between them they raised £22,000 and launched the Greyhound Racing Association . On July 24, 1926, in front of 1,700 spectators,
672-466: A new discount format called "Dales" but this had been ended by 1998. In 1993, Asda completed a second rights issue that raised a further £347 million and began selling off some of its assets; some stores were sold to competitors, and the Allied Carpets chain was sold to Carpetland. By 1995, the company had returned to profitability and had virtually wiped out its debt – this is cited as one of
756-489: A nine-day period. A category three race can be staged over one day but must have minimum prize money of £500. Invitation Race A special type of open race usually staged by the promoter in support on the night of other opens. This will be proposed to the committee by the Greyhound Board or by a promoter, with the racers being invited into the competition rather than the usual process. The minimum prize money for these races
840-452: A petrol filling station and dining and refreshment facilities for shoppers such as customer cafes, and selected stores have McDonald's franchise restaurants or "Express Diners". The Old Kent Road , Scunthorpe Colindale and Brunstane stores previously trialled a Subway franchise. There are currently no plans to roll the Subway franchise out across the chain. In May 2010, Asda announced
924-474: A plan to fully integrate mobile platforms into stores. The app allowed customers to create shopping lists and scan item barcodes for more information about them. In 2015, Asda adopted Walmart's slogan: "Save Money. Live Better". Around the same time they adopted an updated logo, with Walmart's yellow spark surrounding the first letter. The spark was later removed. In June 2016, it was announced that Andy Clarke, CEO since 2010, would be replaced by Sean Clarke ,
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#17330927525271008-401: A race. Greyhounds from which samples can not be obtained for a certain number of consecutive races are subject to being ruled off the track. If a positive sample is found, violators are subject to penalties and loss of their racing licenses by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB). The trainer of the greyhound is at all times the "absolute insurer" of the condition of the animal. The trainer
1092-480: A resurgent Sainsbury's , Asda's chief executive, Tony De Nunzio left, and was replaced by Andy Bond . In 2005, Asda expanded into Northern Ireland by purchasing 12 former Safeway stores from Morrisons . Asda's property development arm, Gazeley Limited, was sold to Economic Zones World (EZW), a Dubai World subsidiary, in June 2008 for in excess of £300 million. In November 2008, there were reports that Asda
1176-641: A sales area of 8,600 m (93,000 sq ft) opened in Patchway, Bristol in the summer of 2000. The first Scottish Supercentre opened in Livingston , in 2001. The Bletchley , Milton Keynes Supercentre which opened in November 2005 is currently the largest Asda Supercentre with a net sales floor of over 11,000 m (120,000 sq ft). This was preceded in June 2002 by the Eastlands, Manchester store which
1260-467: A seat on the board and "an ongoing commercial relationship". In the same month, Asda said that it might need to put 5,000 jobs at risk as part of reconstruction plan in the context of people shopping online. In March 2021, Asda was involved in the "largest ever sterling bond offering" as part of the financing package to fund the acquisition purchase by TDR Capital and the Issa brothers. In May 2023, it
1344-484: A single hare. Coursing by proxy with an artificial lure was introduced at Hendon , on September 11, 1876. Six dogs raced over a 400-yard straight course, chasing an artificial hare. This was the first attempt to introduce mechanical racing to the UK; however it did not catch on at the time. The oval track and mechanical hare were introduced to Britain in 1926, by Charles Munn, an American, in association with Major Lyne-Dixson,
1428-641: A small number of pilot George stores. In January 2012 Asda announced that it had agreed to terms with two franchise partners to open international George stores. Through the agreement with SandpiperCI, based in the Channel Islands, the company will be responsible for opening George franchises in both Jersey and Guernsey, and through the Azadea Group, headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, the George franchise stores would open in
1512-461: A standard colour scheme. The starting traps (equipment that the greyhound starts a race in) determines the colour. Races with eight greyhounds are no longer held. A racing jacket worn by a reserve bears an additional letter 'R' prominently on each side. Greyhound racing at registered stadiums in Great Britain is regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB). Greyhounds are not kept at
1596-555: A vaccination to minimize outbreaks of diseases such as kennel cough and a retirement bond before being allowed to race. All tracks are required to have veterinary room facilities on site. When a greyhound is due to race or trial at a track its health and condition must be checked by the veterinary surgeon at kennelling time and again before they are permitted to race, the weight must be recorded by officials and random drugs tests are conducted. From 1 April 2023, all vehicles transporting racing greyhounds must have air-conditioning. When
1680-479: A £5.4 billion merger that would have both created the United Kingdom's largest multi-category retailer and enabled Asda to begin operating stores throughout Europe. A merger deal was abandoned when Walmart outbid Kingfisher to purchase Asda for £6.7 billion, which was completed on 26 July 1999 in a move that was initially speculated by British media outlets as a potential corporate raid . Shortly after
1764-544: Is held on just one racecourse. There is no requirement for central registration or licensing, and no code of practice. In England, standards for welfare and integrity are set by local government, but there is no governing or other regulatory body. In the 1940s, there were seventy-seven licensed tracks and over two hundred independent tracks in the United Kingdom, of which thirty-three were in London. There are 20 active Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) registered stadiums in
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#17330927525271848-549: Is located opposite head office. They include a small convenience store and click and collect facilities. The trial was a success and in 2014, a full roll out of this format was announced after a third site opened in Northolt, West London. In February 2015, 15 petrol filling stations were acquired from Rontec Ltd, and converted to the new format. Asda originally aimed to have at least 100 standalone forecourts by 2018. However, in October 2015,
1932-464: Is responsible for any positive test regardless of how the banned substance has entered the greyhound's system. Due to the increased practice of random testing, the number of positive samples has decreased. Over a one-year period from 2017 to 2018, over 15,000 greyhounds were tested by the GBGB 'flying squad' which returned four positive cocaine tests. These cases resulted in disqualification or suspension for
2016-594: Is the Greyhound Trust (GT). The GT is a charity but is partly funded by the British Greyhound Racing Fund (BGRF), who gave funding of £1,400,000 in 2015 and rehomed 4,000 greyhounds in 2016. In recent years the racing industry has made significant progress in establishing programmes for the adoption of retired racers. Many race tracks have established their own adoption programmes in addition to actively cooperating with private adoption groups throughout
2100-483: Is £750. Minor Open Race This is any other open race. The minimum added money for these races is £150. In 1986, Ballyregan Bob beat the record for the most number of consecutive races won by winning his 32nd race, besting the record set by Joe Dump in the United States in 1978 and 1979. This is any other race staged at a track, and prize money is varied. This kind of racing is the core of most stadiums and some of
2184-621: The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), and a sector known as 'independent racing' or 'flapping' which is unaffiliated with a governing body. Registered racing in Great Britain is regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) and has been UKAS accredited since 2010. All in the registered sector are subject to the GBGB Rules of Racing and the Directions of the Stewards, who set
2268-490: The Irish Greyhound Derby , held at Shelbourne Park , is open to British greyhounds. There used to be a Scottish Greyhound Derby and Welsh Greyhound Derby but the events finished in 2019 and 1977 respectively. In 2010, a short lived Northern Irish Derby was introduced. Category One Race These races must have minimum prize money of £12,500. They can be run between one and four rounds but must be completed within
2352-498: The North of England , the newly focused food retail group expanded further south in 1989 by purchasing the large format stores of rival Gateway Superstores for £705 million. This significantly increased Asda's total selling area, but the company had borrowed heavily in order to fund the purchase – city estimates suggested that Asda had overpaid by around £300 million for 61 of the largest Gateway stores, two undeveloped store sites and
2436-488: The Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Portsmouth Greyhound Trusts reported that all retired greyhounds were being homed and that there was a shortage. Concerns were raised that if the shortage of retired greyhounds continued it could force some homing organisations to close. The most recent independently verified published figures show that the 2021 injury rate was 1.23% which equated to 4,442 from 359,083 runs. The most common injury
2520-583: The Middle East. In April 2006, Asda launched a new trial format called 'Asda Essentials' in Northampton , followed by another in Pontefract a month later. The stores were modelled on France's Leader Price chain, with a smaller floorplate than Asda's mainstream stores and with a primary focus on own-brand products, only stocking branded items that were perceived to be at the "core" of a family's weekly shop with
2604-512: The Racing Manager Mr Greggs joined Gosforth before Mr Martin became Racing Manager succeeded by Mr Slater in 1959. Just like White City the majority of the greyhounds were owned by the company and trained by the resident trainers resulting in very little open race action. Racing took place on Monday and Friday evenings at 7.30pm on a peat surface with an 'Inside Sumner' hare system. In 1959 a grader called Wine Steward (a June 1950 whelp)
Gosforth Greyhound Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue
2688-558: The UK to come to an end but the GBGB responded criticising the charities' inaccurate data. In 2023, trainer Rebecca Perkins received a jail sentence and life ban after committing offences contrary to the Animal Welfare Act. Asda Asda Stores Limited ( / ˈ æ z d ə / ), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA , is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters are in Leeds , England. The company
2772-458: The UK. Under the plans, Walmart would own 42% of the combined business, which would be led by the existing chief executive of Sainsbury's, Mike Coupe. The group would also open branches of Argos within Asda stores. The merger underwent intense scrutiny by a cross-party group of MPs, chairing select committees for the proposed merger, along with the Competition and Markets Authority, investigating
2856-548: The United Kingdom Greyhound racing is a sport in the United Kingdom. The industry uses a parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course betting available. Attendances have declined in recent years, mainly due to the decrease in evening fixtures with the majority of fixtures being held in the daytime. Attendances peaked in 1946 at around 70 million and totalisator turnover reaching £196,431,430. As of January 2024, there are 20 licensed stadiums in
2940-532: The United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) and just one independent stadium (unaffiliated to a governing body). Modern greyhound racing evolved from a form of hunting called coursing , in which a dog runs after a live game animal – usually a rabbit or hare. The first official coursing meeting was held in 1776 at Swaffham , Norfolk . The rules of the Swaffham Coursing Society, started by Lord Orford , specified that only two greyhounds were to course
3024-658: The United Kingdom. There are no active GBGB tracks in Scotland and just one in Wales. Northern Irish tracks do not come under the control of the GBGB. There is just one active independent stadium: There are various types and levels of competitions in Britain, with prize money reaching £15,737,122. Greyhound Derby The English Greyhound Derby currently has a winner's prize of £175,000. The competition (held at Towcester) has six rounds and attracts around 180 entries each year. In addition,
3108-465: The Walmart model, Asda began opening larger 'Hypermarket' (later 'Supercentre') stores as well as introducing pharmacies and cafes to its stores. At the same time, merger discussions were taking place between Asda and other retailers such as Safeway and Kingfisher plc ; both collapsed without an agreement being reached, but in 1999, a second round of discussions with Kingfisher later reached an agreement for
3192-403: The aim being to challenge the dominance of Tesco and Sainsbury's in the convenience store market while at the same time addressing competition from discount supermarkets such as Aldi , Lidl and Netto. On 6 December 2006, The Guardian reported that further planned store openings were under review following poor sales in the existing outlets, while the range of branded products being carried
3276-570: The back straight included a club enclosure downstairs. The Sports Club was situated between the third and fourth bends and the Stadium Club could be found on the opposite side of the track. A large paddock and resident kennels were set back behind the Stadium Club with further isolation kennels and paddocks not far from the second bend area. The racing kennels were near the first bend next to the Northumberland Rugby Union Pavilion,
3360-568: The banner of J. W. Hindell Dairy Farmers Ltd. The company diversified in 1949 to become Associated Dairies and Farm Stores Ltd, with Arthur Stockdale as the managing director. In 1963, the Asquith brothers converted an old cinema, the Queens in Castleford , into a self-service supermarket. Another followed in the old indoor market at Edlington . Both stores traded under the name of 'Queens'. Their next store
3444-596: The coffee shop Living Cafe within some of the stores. The first store with this format opened in Walsall , West Midlands. As at 31 January 2021, there are 33 stores. In 2004, the George clothing brand was extended to a number of standalone George stores on the high street; the first George standalone store to open was in Preston. In 2008, all George standalone stores were closed due to high rental costs resulting in low profitability. In 2011, Asda announced its intention to establish
Gosforth Greyhound Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue
3528-453: The company decided to slow the roll out down to address the problems associated with a major collapse of profits from its large store formats due to intense competition from its main rivals. But, the company is still continuing to add a combination of fully automated credit/debit card payment only petrol stations and petrol stations with traditional forecourt shops within the car parks of its existing store portfolio and to new store sites. Asda
3612-724: The company had set up a store in Billingham , County Durham . By 1969, Noel Stockdale bought out the Asquith brothers' stake and became chairman of the company. Asda took advantage of the abolition of retail price maintenance to offer large-scale, low-cost supermarkets. This was aided by the decision to acquire three struggling US-owned branches in the mid-1960s of the GEM retail group. The Government Exchange Mart stores in Preston, Lancashire , Cross Gates, Leeds and West Bridgford , Nottinghamshire , had accumulated losses of £320,000 and offered to sell
3696-414: The company in the third quarter of 2024. In September 2024, it was announced that Lord Rose would succeeded Mohsin Issa as CEO and be supported by TDR Capital's Rob Hattrell. Mohsin would retain his ownership stake in Asda, as well as a non-executive director role. He would return to EG Group to be its sole chief executive. In November 2024, Asda announced to staff that they were ordering staff back to
3780-467: The core of the Asda Supermarket format. As of 31 January 2021, there are 207 supermarkets. In October 2003, Asda launched a new format called Asda Living . This is the company's first "general merchandise" store, containing all its non-food ranges including clothing, home electronics, toys, homewares, health, and beauty products. With these stores they have linked up with Compass Group who operate
3864-469: The country. There are also many independent organisations which find homes for retired Greyhounds. Several independent rescue and homing groups receive some funding from the industry but mainly rely on public donations. In 2016, 1,500 greyhounds were rehomed by independent groups. In 2018, several tracks introduced a scheme whereby every greyhound is found a home by the track, these include Kinsley and Doncaster. During 2020 many homing organisations including
3948-492: The existing Spar stores at these locations were rebranded to either Asda Express or Asda On the Move. The deal also included ownership of fast-food chain Leon , as well as the purchase of 462 Burger King , Greggs and Subway franchises. In June 2024, Zuber Issa announced he will sell his 22.5% stake in Asda to TDR Capital which would make them the majority owner, controlling 67.5% of
4032-503: The first modern greyhound race in Great Britain took place at Belle Vue Stadium , where seven greyhounds raced round an oval circuit to catch an electric artificial hare. They then hurried to open tracks in London at White City and Harringay . The first three years of racing were financially successful, with attendances of 5.5 million in 1927, 13.7 million in 1928 and 16 million in 1929. The greyhound racing industry in Great Britain currently falls under two sectors: that registered by
4116-406: The fresh food and general merchandise offer within all stores. After reportedly clashing with Roger Burnley and only six months in his post, Lorente left Asda at the end of July 2018. His role was divided up between Burnley and Anthony Hemmerdinger. In April 2018, Sainsbury's and Walmart announced negotiations about a possible merger of Sainsbury's and Asda, creating the largest supermarket chain in
4200-409: The greyhounds finish their racing careers they are retired under the GBGB bond scheme (introduced in 2020) which ensures the homing costs are met. Owners may keep the dog for breeding or as pets, or they can send them to greyhound adoption groups. The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) have introduced measures to locate where racing greyhounds reside after they have retired from racing and from 2017
4284-516: The head of parent company Walmart's operations in China. In October 2017, Asda announced that the current CEO, Sean Clarke would be replaced by Roger Burnley , the deputy CEO, from 1 January 2018, and the sixth CEO since 2000. In November 2017, Asda recruited Jesús Lorente, from French hypermarket retailer Carrefour . He became CMO (Chief Merchandising Officer), in January 2018, and was put in charge of
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#17330927525274368-401: The impact of how the deal could negatively affect the retail industry by a possible reduction of consumer choice for shoppers resulting in price rises, and of how suppliers, especially smaller, family-owned companies could be squeezed by the combined group. The CMA were inundated with complaints by suppliers and other major retailers of the damage they felt would be inflicted upon them if the deal
4452-484: The introduction of Asda branded products. In 1985, Asda merged with MFI (Mullard Furniture Industries) and the group was renamed Asda-MFI Group plc. Asda established its headquarters at "Asda House". The site was officially opened in 1988 by the then Prime Minister , Margaret Thatcher . By the end of the 1990s, the 'Asdale'-named clothing range was replaced by the clothing ranges from the newly formed George Davies partnership with Asda. With stores mainly based in
4536-567: The latter served as the dressing rooms and offices for the Northumberland RFU that used the centre green as their pitch. Gosforth RFC played home games at the stadium before moving to their own ground at North Road in 1955. The Gosforth Stadium Greyhound Racing Company Ltd established the track being just behind Brough Park in terms of totalisator turnover and attendances. Following the closure of White City Stadium in Newcastle in 1951
4620-486: The major oil companies would not supply fuel to be sold at discount prices. From the early seventies, oil companies such as Mobil, Shell and Texaco supplied fuel to Asda as more supermarkets started to sell fuel from car park forecourts. Since the mid-1990s Asda has supplied, along with its main supermarket rivals, its own fuel delivered by its own tankers to its petrol station forecourts. As of June 2018, Asda operates 319 petrol stations in total, 18 of which are standalone and
4704-480: The most successful turnarounds in British retail history. Norman succeeded Gillam as chairman upon the latter's retirement in 1996, appointing then-deputy Allan Leighton as chief executive, and began to remodel Asda's stores along the lines of Walmart , the world's largest retailer. Leighton travelled to Bentonville, Arkansas , to assess and photograph the systems and marketing deployed by Walmart. In 1998, following
4788-466: The offending parties. Isolated incidents have occurred that resulted in national newspaper articles. In 2007, a builder called David Smith destroyed greyhounds with a captive bolt gun, he received a jail sentence. Subsequently, anyone found to have sent a greyhound to him was warned off for life by the GBGB. During September 2022, the RSPCA, Blue Cross and The Dogs Trust jointly called for greyhound racing in
4872-400: The office at least three days a week and cutting head office jobs in an attempt to halt the supermarket’s decline. Following the takeover by Walmart, several "Asda Walmart Supercentres" opened, creating some of the largest hypermarkets in the United Kingdom. Since 2006, all new Supercentres have been solely branded as Asda Supercentre without the Walmart branding. The first Supercentre with
4956-504: The opening of new stores in the Estover area of Plymouth , Devon and Gosport , Hampshire in 1977. In 1978, Asda acquired Allied Carpets . In 1982, the first London store opened in Park Royal , near Ealing . The Isle of Dogs and Charlton, London stores followed on rapidly thereafter. In 1984, managing director, John Hardman, made attempts to halt Asda's decline, which included
5040-494: The purchase of the 193 UK stores of Danish discount retailer Netto in a £778 million deal. But the Competition Commission made them sell off 47 of the stores to other retailers. The remaining stores continued to trade as Netto stores until early 2011, when Asda integrated the stores into its supermarkets division, designated for shops smaller than 2,300 m (25,000 sq ft). These former Netto stores form
5124-494: The racing can be viewed in betting shops on the Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS). The Racing Manager selects the greyhounds based on ability and organises them into traps (called seeding) and classes (usually 1–9) with grade 1 being the best class. The sex and weight of the greyhound has no bearing. + Only used if a track has an alternative standard distance. Greyhound racing in Britain has
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#17330927525275208-531: The recession and the reining in of spending by consumers on non-food purchases. On 11 May 2010, Andy Clarke , the chief operating officer, was appointed as CEO. In the same month Asda bought the original Netto UK supermarket chain in a £778 million deal. In February 2011, Asda announced the purchase of six stores from Focus DIY ; five of these were converted into supermarkets later that year. On 16 April 2012, Asda launched their Android grocery shopping app and mobile website for non-grocery items with
5292-462: The retirement data has been available to the public. Concern among welfare groups is the well-being of some racing greyhounds who are not adopted upon their retirement, and that they may subsequently be put down or sold by their owners, some others are put down because they are not suitable for retirement. However the GBGB require all owners to sign a retirement form indicating the retirement plans. The main greyhound adoption organisation in Britain
5376-533: The sale of Zuber Issa's 22.5 per cent holding to the company. The Asquith family were butchers based in Knottingley , Wakefield , West Yorkshire. In the 1920s, they expanded their business to seven butchers shops in the area. Their sons, Peter and Fred, later became founding members of Asda. Around the same time, a group of West Riding dairy farmers, including the Stockdale family and Craven Dairies, joined under
5460-532: The standards for greyhound welfare and racing integrity, from racecourse facilities and trainers' kennels to retirement of greyhounds. There are Stewards' inquiries, and then disciplinary action is taken against anyone found failing to comply. The registered sector consists of 20 racecourses and approximately 880 trainers, 4,000 kennel staff and 860 racecourse officials. Greyhound owners number 15,000, with approximately 7,000–8,000 greyhounds registered annually for racing. Independent racing, also known as 'flapping',
5544-497: The stores for 20% of whatever Asda could recoup as losses from the Inland Revenue . They received the whole amount back. The rent was only 10 shillings (50p) per square foot on a 20-year lease, with no rent reviews, Asda increased GEM's £6,000 per week sales to around £60,000 per week in just six months with the new stores named as Asda. During the 1970s, with over 30 stores in the north of England, Asda began expanding south, with
5628-410: The takeover, Norman resigned as chairman and left the company to pursue his political career; he was succeeded as chairman by Leighton. As Walmart were keen on entering the British market, Bob Martin, Walmart's president of international operations, lobbied Prime Minister Tony Blair on planning issues. In 2005, amid reported concerns within Walmart about a slippage in market share, partially due to
5712-554: The third major track in Newcastle area at the time. It was licensed at different times by both the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) and the short lived British Greyhound Tracks Control Society (BGTCS). The circumference of the track was 456 yards with initial distances of 420 and 520 yards. Covered stands surrounded the entire track culminating with two major stands on the home and back straights. The north stand on
5796-466: The track under pressure for a supply of runners. The track's promoter Jim Glass made the decision in 1985 to leave the NGRC and race independently blaming NGRC costs as the reason. It was the beginning of the end for Gosforth before the stadium was finally sold for re-development in 1987. The last meeting was held on 7 August 1987 and today the site is occupied by an Asda superstore. Greyhound racing in
5880-530: The tracks and are instead housed in the kennels of trainers and transported to the tracks to race. Licensed kennels have to fall within specific guidelines and rules and are checked by officials to make sure the treatment of racing greyhounds is within the rules. In 2018, licensing and inspecting trainer's kennels was conducted through the government-approved, UKAS accredited method. Greyhounds require microchipping, annual vaccinations against distemper , infectious canine hepatitis , parvovirus , leptospirosis ,
5964-453: Was a declining customer base, which was mainly caused by Asda's focus on moving upmarket resulting in prices rising to levels significantly higher than competitors. Eventually, a combination of flagging profits, a tremendous debt and a loss of customers left Asda in such an egregious financial situation that they came very close to breaching their banking covenants; at one point, they almost entered administration . The company's first response
6048-494: Was a hind limb muscle at 1,012 (0.28%), this was followed by foot injuries 876 (0.24%), hock 811 (0.23%), wrist 752 (0.21%), fore limb muscle 414 (0.12%), fore long bone 106 (0.03%) and hind long bone 26 (0.01%), other equated to 425 (0.12%). Track fatalities were 120 (0.03%). The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) actively works to prevent the spread of drug usage within the registered greyhound racing sector. Attempts are made to recover urine samples from all six greyhounds in
6132-517: Was a purpose-built supermarket in South Elmsall , a town in which Asda has a distribution centre to this day. In 1965, the Asquith brothers approached Associated Dairies to run the butchery departments within their small store chain. A merger was proposed and the Asquiths' business was joined with Noel Stockdale 's to form a new company, Asda ( As quith + Da iries) (capitalised from 1985). By 1967,
6216-447: Was also being expanded due to customer demand. In January 2007 it was announced that the original Northampton trial store would close within a month after only 10 months of trading. In 2012, Asda trialled a new standalone petrol filling station format (which means that they are not attached to or near an existing Asda store) at two locations in Sale, Greater Manchester and Leeds Bridge, which
6300-501: Was also the first supermarket chain in the United Kingdom to sell petrol at its old Halifax store in 1967, which at the time was located inside a converted mill in Battinson Road which burnt down during a major fire in 1982, and subsequently reopened as a purpose-built store in 1983, without the petrol station. The store moved to a different site in 2004. Back then its forecourt fuel was supplied by discount Russian supplier Nafta, because
6384-469: Was approved. On 25 April 2019 the CMA blocked the proposed merger, suggesting that it would increase prices for consumers and make competition unfair for the other UK retailers, Sainsbury's then announced that it was abandoning the merger. In February 2021, Mohsin Issa , Zuber Issa and TDR Capital acquired Asda, which at the time was valued at £6.8 billion. Walmart retained "an equity investment" in Asda,
6468-463: Was built in the 1930s to replace an earlier wooden structure at the South West side of the stadium. The stadium ran speedway for two years in 1929 and 1930, the latter hosting the Newcastle speedway team . Ladbrokes began to sell off the tracks in their portfolio and with the sale of Brough Park in 1983 the new promoters of Brough Park stopped their trainers from supplying runners to Gosforth, leaving
6552-494: Was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded into Southern England during the 1970s and 1980s, and acquired Allied Carpets , 61 large Gateway Supermarkets and other businesses, such as MFI Group . It sold these acquisitions during the 1990s to concentrate on the supermarkets. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until 1999 when it was acquired by Walmart for £6.7 billion. Asda
6636-436: Was reported that the Issa brothers and TDR Capital had together contributed just £200 million for their purchase of Asda, worth £6.8 billion; the majority of the purchase price was funded by a loan from the parent company of heavily indebted EG Group , and by disposing of Asda assets. In October 2023, Asda completed a £2.27 billion acquisition of EG Group property, this mainly consisting of 356 forecourt sites, where
6720-486: Was retired after competing in 508 races and 118 wins. During the 1960s the track was acquired by the Totalisators and Greyhound Holdings (T.G.H) who were actively purchasing tracks at the time to increase their portfolio. In 1966 rival track Gateshead closed and in 1974 TGH was bought out by Ladbrokes who persuaded Arthur Aldridge to leave the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) and take over as racing director. In 1977
6804-515: Was the largest store at the time with a sales area of 10,000 m (110,000 sq ft) but is currently the second largest Asda Supercentre, and the third largest is located in Minworth , West Midlands, followed by Patchway. As of 31 January 2021, there are 32 Supercentres. Asda superstores are large supermarkets with a non-food offer slightly smaller than an Asda Supercentre. As of 31 January 2021, there are 342 superstores. Most superstores have
6888-511: Was the second-largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2014 by market share, at which point it fell into third place. As of August 2024, its market share in the UK is 12.6 per cent. Besides its core supermarkets, the company also acts as a white label payment card provider offering assistance for insurance and payment services under the Asda Money brand and also has
6972-496: Was to buy Irish retailer Dunnes Stores . In August 2009, Walmart sold Asda for £6.9 billion to its Leeds-based investment subsidiary Corinth Services Limited. The deal was described as part of a "group restructuring" and meant Asda remained under the control of Walmart, since Corinth is itself a Walmart subsidiary. In April 2010, Asda announced plans to open over 100 new non-food stores as part of an ambitious five-year plan. These plans were mothballed shortly after because of
7056-523: Was to change its management; chairman John Hardman was ousted in June 1991 and was replaced by Patrick Gillam, and Archie Norman was appointed chief executive in October. Asda then completed a rights issue in November 1991 that raised £357 million and cut the company's debts to £668 million. In May 1992, Asda reduced their prices back to their traditional level (5–7% below competitors) and announced that they would eliminate over 500 management positions. Underperforming stores were initially converted to
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