Supermarket bosses are enjoying fancy cars and private jets – as drivers are hit in the pocket at their pumps. 

Mohsin and Zuber Issa are majority stakeholders in Asda, which was one of a number of supermarkets slammed in a recent report for hiking fuel margins by a Government watchdog. 

The brothers, who purchased the firm in 2021 alongside private equity firm TDR Capital and who also own Euro Garages, live in mansions in a gated complex in Blackburn, Lancashire.

A neighbour told the Mirror they had seen Mohsin at the wheel of a Land Rover and Zuber in a black Rolls Royce.

The brothers also own Bombardier Global 6000 and Bombardier Challenger 350 jets and on Friday one of their aircraft was spotted landing at Leeds Bradford Airport. 

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And they’re not the only Asda chiefs who have splashed out on expensive road transport.

Vehicles seen on Asda Chairman Sir Stuart Rose’s driveway earlier this week included a 2017 black BMW X5 xDrive50i and a 2019 blue Audi E-tron Edition 55

On Monday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a report that found drivers paid about £900million more for fuel at supermarkets in 2022 as a result of increased margins – with Asda and Morrisons singled out.

The watchdog said: “Supermarkets are generally the cheapest places to buy fuel, with Asda typically the cheapest of those. This has anchored prices in the past.

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“The CMA found that in 2022, Asda and Morrisons each made the decision to target higher margins. Asda’s fuel margin target in 2023 was more than three times what it had been for 2019, while Morrisons doubled their margin target in the same period. 

“Other retailers, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, did not respond in the way you would expect in a competitive market and instead raised their prices in line with these changes. Taken together this indicates that competition has weakened and reinforces the need for action.

“Diesel prices have been slow to drop in 2023, partially down to Asda ‘feathering’ (reducing pump prices more slowly as wholesale prices fell) its prices and other firms not responding competitively to that. 

“As a result, the CMA estimates that drivers have paid 13 PPL [pence per litre] more for diesel from January 2023 to the end of May 2023 than if margins had been at their historic average.”

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The CMA also hit Asda with £60,000 of fines for “failing to provide relevant information in a timely manner” ahead of its report.

Speaking to the Mirror, an Asda spokesperson said: “The CMA confirmed Asda is the UK’s cheapest fuel retailer and that the presence of an Asda petrol station in a local area keeps prices down for all motorists.

“Asda’s profits last year were down by over 20% year-on-year, resulting in a profit of 1.7p for every pound earned. This decrease is a direct result of absorbing inflation to keep grocery prices as low as possible, while investing in new initiatives to help families during the cost of living crisis.”

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