Asda row, Tesla deal, dumping KFC... inside huge year for billionaire Issa brothers who started out with Bury petrol station

After buying a petrol station on Brandlesholme Road in Bury, just over 20 years ago, they built a sprawling business empire worth billions. But since snapping up Asda for £6.8bn in February 2021, billionaire brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issahave come under greater scrutiny.

Here we take a look back at what's been a busy and at times dramatic year for the Blackburn-born entrepreneurs - which has seen them strike some massive deals, and face questions from politicians.

The brothers, who according to the Sunday Times 2023 Rich List have a combined fortune of £5bn, recently sought to reassure MPs over the structure of their company and its tax and debt position.

"We would like to take this opportunity to confirm that no companies in the Asda ownership structure are incorporated in jurisdictions outside of England and Wales due to any 'tax haven' status,'" Mohsin Issa wrote to MP Liam Byrne, chair of the business and trade committee.

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"We can further confirm that all of the companies are UK tax residents regardless of where they are incorporated, they each file UK corporation tax returns and pay UK corporation tax on profits in accordance with UK tax legislation."

Meanwhile, earlier in 2023, executives from the Issa brothers' owned Asda - and the UK's other big four supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons - denied they were profiteering from customers who have witnessed soaring increases in their food bills during the cost-of-living crisis.

But while the Issas have come under political scrutiny, their business, which includes the petrol station