Aldi in talks over head office restructuring, 350 jobs at risk

Aldi has entered a consultation over proposals to restructure some of its head office teams, with up to 350 jobs at risk.According to media reports confirmed to Retail Sector by Aldi, the changes will affect some roles within its buying departments, including non-food, finance, and some back-office functions. No customer-facing roles will be affected. 

Nonetheless, the group is reportedly looking to increase the number of buying roles at its Atherstone headquarters.

A spokesperson for Aldi told Retail Sector: “To support our continued growth and to offer the best experience to our customers, we are consulting over proposals to restructure some head office teams.

“No customer-facing roles are affected, and no final decisions will be made until the consultation process is complete. We are committed to supporting our colleagues throughout this process. Wherever possible, we will seek to redeploy affected colleagues within the business.”

The news comes shortly after Aldi announced it is set to invest £67m in upgrading its existing stores in 2025.

The supermarket has spent almost £600m on store upgrades since 2017, and with the first phase of these updates nearly complete, Aldi is moving on to the next stage of its store enhancement programme.

The initial store upgrades focused on creating a better shopping experience for customers with more space for fresh, chilled, and food-to-go ranges, alongside simpler layouts, improved fixtures and energy efficient LED lighting.

The new phase will bring further improvements, including additional in-store features such as improved Bakery and Health and Beauty fixtures for customers. Stores will also benefit from CO2 refrigeration upgrades, contributing to an estimated reduction in carbon emissions equivalent to heating over 6,500 homes, when the programme is complete.

In addition, Aldi last week announced a new pay rise for its store assistants from 1 March, with hourly rates increasing to at least £12.75, maintaining Aldi’s position as Britain’s best-paying supermarket. 

The new minimum rate, which increases to £14.05 within the M25, exceeds the Real Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation in October last year and will take effect from March.

Aldi has also committed to a further pay increase for store colleagues from September 2025, taking its minimum rates of pay for store assistants to £12.85 per hour nationally and £14.16 per hour for those within the M25.