A VISIT to a York supermarket has led to a prestigious honour for a well-known retail chain.

Global business magazine Fortune named Asda as Britain's best company to work for after dropping into the York store at Monks Cross.

Magazine reporters Milton Moskowitz and Robert Levering held a listening group with several Asda workers and spent the day talking to staff on the shop floor. They were impressed by the "general feeling of warmth" they found at Asda York.

Mr Moskowitz said: "The people at Asda York seem truly passionate about their work. They really are all colleagues, one team. It is amazing to find this in such a large workplace."

The Monks Cross store employs more than 750 people including 326 over the age of 50.

General store manager Owen Hickey said: "We were very privileged when Fortune Magazine asked to visit our store here in York. Mr Mokowitz in particular was keen to talk to the colleagues to try and get a feel for the way we work in Asda.

"At the end of the visit he was inspired by the way we all work together in the store."

This is not the first time Asda has been singled out as a top place to work. In 2002 the supermarket chain was named Britain's Best Place To Work in a prestigious Sunday Times survey and it appeared in the top ten in 2003 and was named the best UK company for flexibility. A poll by the Financial Times in 2003 also said Asda was one of the EU's top companies to work for.

Asda cashier Jill Pigott likes her workplace so much she is getting married there. Tomorrow Jill will tie the knot with fianc Pete Freeman at the Monks Cross store after the New Earswick couple fell in love over the checkout.

Updated: 11:08 Friday, February 27, 2004