When Mohsin Issa made a disastrous appearance before MPs investigating high petrol prices, it was clear the fuel forecourt tycoon was living on borrowed time as Asda's boss.

His repeated, robotic responses and failure to answer lawmakers' most basic questions made it inevitable he would eventually have to check out of Britain's third largest supermarket.

The only question was when.

It has taken another year for Mohsin finally to quit – to be replaced by Asda chairman and retail veteran Stuart Rose.

In that time, Asda's market share has continued to nosedive at an alarming rate amid shoppers' complaints about shoddy stores, surly staff and poor product availability.

With his brother Zuber and private equity group TDR Capital, Mohsin backed a £6.8 billion buyout in 2022 that saddled Asda with huge debts – and a labyrinthine corporate structure with Jersey-based entities called 'Phantom'.

The controversial deal was done just as interest rates started to soar, increasing the new owners' borrowing costs amid a cost-of-living squeeze that played into the hands of German discounters Aldi and Lidl.

The brothers, who between them held a 45 per cent stake in Asda, had made their money building up from scratch fuel retailer Eurogarages, which has since renamed EG Group.

What they lacked was experience of running a food retailer like Asda, with a chain of grocery superstores, or a clothing business like its George unit.

An experienced management team was assembled to address this gap while Mohsin led – and was meant to complete – a major IT overhaul. Unfortunately, this saw thousands of shopfloor workers paid the wrong amount. That project remains unfinished business.

Under Mohsin's watch, Asda expanded into convenience stores – a promising growth sector – and launched a successful loyalty card.

'He's a genuinely nice guy and has done a lot of good work within the business that should bear fruit in the long run,' an insider said, before admitting his exit was 'the right move'.

Some decisions – like buying a supermarket in one of the poshest parts of south Manchester – bordered on the bizarre given Asda's cut-price credentials.

Meanwhile, Mohsin is now in a relationship with a high-flying accountant, Victoria Price.

He and Zuber have also denied reports of a rift between them.

Zuber later sold his stake in Asda to TDR, who became majority owners of the business. Lack of retail experience is not a charge that can be levelled against Rose, the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer, though it remains to be seen how long the 75-year-old will want to run the shop.

'He's an obviously talented chap but it's an awful long time since he's had day-to-day responsibility for trading and performance,' said one retail expert.

Mohsin's departure clears the way for a new chief executive to be hired on a permanent basis – Asda has been

conducting 'an extensive international search' for three years.

An appointment is not thought to be imminent.

Whoever gets the gig faces a formidable in-tray.

'There is clearly lots of uncertainty around ownership, leadership, direction, and performance. That's a pretty toxic collection of fundamental issues,' the retail expert added. 

'It's clear Asda has suffered from this. They need to do things differently.' 

The top priority is to arrest Asda's dramatic market share decline in what is an increasingly benign trading environment as inflation falls and price pressure on shoppers eases.

Latest figures from researchers NIQ show the supermarket was again by far the worst performer with its market share plummeting to 11.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to September 7, from 13.1 percent a year ago.

As Clive Black at stockbrokers Shore Capital noted last week the supermarkets look in decent shape 'bar Asda'.

Small wonder Rose said last month he was 'embarrassed' by Asda's performance. Recent actions Asda has taken to stop the rot include more staff at its manned checkouts to cut queues in a move aimed at reducing its reliance on self check-outs, which failed to deliver the cost-savings promised.

Mohsin remains on the board of Asda, which is based in Leeds, but he will focus on running EG Group across the Pennines in his home town of Blackburn.

He retains a 22.5 per cent stake in the grocer, though analysts say it is only a matter of time before he follows in his brother's footsteps and sells.

The most likely buyer – again - is TDR, whose director Rob Hattrell – a former Tesco executive – will help Rose run Asda's day-to-day operations.

Private equity groups are notorious for 'flipping' their investments by selling them on after a few years after extracting their pound of flesh. Unless Asda's performance improves, TDR may have no choice but to hold on in the hope its fortunes eventually revive.