Asda boss Andy Bond has stepped down as chief executive of the supermarket - triggering another hunt for a top UK supermarket job.

Bond is to leave his current role and become part-time chairman of the retailer and Asda owner Wal-Mart said an appointment would be made “soon”.

Bond has been chief executive of the Leeds-based multiple for the last five years of his 16-year Asda career.

In his upcoming role, which has been newly created by the firm, he will help to ensure a "smooth transition" for the new chief executive, according to Asda.

Bond is expected to announce a new growth strategy for the company later this week and is currently at the centre of speculation suggesting takeover interest in Argos’s parent Home Retail Group.

A Mail on Sunday report said that Asda was preparing for a major acquisition and it had considered making a bid for Home Retail Group, as part of its plans to open more smaller stores and more Asda Living stores - shops that do not sell food.

Bond’s departure comes at a time of change at the top of the supermarket industry, with rival Morrisons' chief executive Marc Bolland leaving to head up Marks & Spencer, replaced by former Wal-Mart employee Dalton Philips.

Bond told the Financial Times he expected to remain in Asda for the “medium term”.

He said: “My commitment is to embed a new chief executive, and at that point my decision with Wal-Mart and the chief executive is whether that role continues. If it is working, I will stay and if it is not, I will not.”

Bond is expected to be in his new role for the next six months.

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