Asda’s lifesaver may sink the spirits

God knows, we all need a lift at work from time to time. When the humdrum daily grind starts to sap one’s will to live – or at least to get out of bed in the morning – and you begin to lose sight of the reasons you chose your career. When the road to the top of the corporate ladder, the one you once believed would be paved with gold, becomes overgrown with tangleweed and the brambles of despair and mediocrity⦠the Diary could go on but won’t.

Anyway, it is at such times that you need a hero. He’s gotta be strong, he’s gotta be fast, and he’s gotta be fresh from the fight. Supermarket Asda, it seems, understands this need, and staff are treated to a monthly pep talk at the firm’s head office in Leeds, where a celebrity is often wheeled out to ramp up the feel-good factor. Peter Andre has previously been on hand to improve morale by crooning some of his favourite numbers, but that is nothing compared to the treat in store for staff next month.

According to the Diary’s sources, the Hoff, the whole Hoff and nothing but the Hoff will be attending the next team-building session. One can only imagine him saucily patting his no doubt leather-clad derriere while belting out hits “Looking for Freedom” and “Do the Limbo Dance”.

Expect staff at your local Asda to be on cloud nine for most of the autumn.