Aldi to invest £1.4bn in UK-wide expansion

Aldi has announced that it would increase its rate of investment in the UK in the next two-year period to more than £1.4bn, as annual sales increased by almost £2bn to £15.5bn in the year to December 2022.

The discount retailer’s investment will include work to expand its distribution and store network, as well as improving existing stores and technology infrastructure. 

The supermarket chain’s plan to expand will also create 6,000 new jobs in total this year, which will add to the 6,000 permanent roles created last year. 

According to Aldi, the way Britain shops for groceries has been “transformed” by the cost-of-living crisis, as it created a shift in attitudes towards “traditional, full price supermarkets”. 

Giles Hurley, CEO of Aldi UK&I, said: “Although inflation is easing, households are still under real pressure from higher living costs. As a result, Britain is shopping very differently to how it did 18 months ago – fewer trips, more own label products, and switching supermarkets in search of better value. 

“That’s why we’re still welcoming more and more customers through our doors – people who come to us for our low prices but stay for the award-winning quality of our exclusive brands.”

He added: “There are still communities across the UK that don’t have easy access to quality, low price groceries and that’s something we want to address through our expansion, with plans to increase our investment even further over the next two years to £1.4bn in new and improved stores and distribution centres, creating thousands of jobs for our colleagues and more opportunities for our 5,000 British suppliers.”

The supermarket, which operates more than 1,000 UK stores, said it planned to open in 18 new locations before the end of the year. It recently committed to opening up to 500 more stores across the UK.