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Aldi set to open 450 new UK stores

The German discount grocer has released a 'wish list' of locations for the expansion, with an aim to open 400 shops in England, 30 in Wales and 20 in Scotland. Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The German discount grocer has released a 'wish list' of locations for the expansion, with an aim to open 400 shops in England, 30 in Wales and 20 in Scotland. Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Aldi has announced plans to open another 450 stores in the UK.

The German discount grocer has released a “wish list” of locations for the expansion, with an aim to open 400 shops in England, 30 in Wales and 20 in Scotland.

It is planning to open stores in Brighton, Oxford and Bristol in the south of England, Birmingham, Warwick and Leicester in the Midlands, and Manchester, Liverpool and Warrington in the north of the country.

In Wales, it has highlighted Cardiff, Newport and Swansea as key areas for new stores, while Edinburgh, Dumbarton and Shotts are being scouted for potential sites in Scotland.

The supermarket, which has more than 900 shops in the UK, said each area should be around 1.5 acres and able to accommodate a 20,000 sq ft store with around 100 parking spaces. It is looking for freehold town-centre or edge-of-centre sites suitable for development.

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The move comes after Aldi pledged to invest a record £1.3bn ($1.8bn) by the end of 2021, and create 4,000 new jobs.

The company, which opened its first store in the UK in 1990 and is now the fifth-largest supermarket in Britain, posted a pre-tax profit jump of almost 50% in September last year, as sales exceeded £12bn.

“We have been investing in Britain for more than 30 years now, but we know that there are still areas that either do not have an Aldi at all, or that need another store to meet customer demand,” said Ciaran Aldridge, national property director at Aldi UK.

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“Shoppers are increasingly looking to get unbeatable prices on their weekly shop without compromising on quality. That’s why, more so than ever, we’re keen to explore all opportunities to open new stores across the country.”

It comes as Aldi has committed to removing single-use plastic from all its own-brand tea bags by the end of 2021, following a number of trials

The full list of areas Aldi is targeting include:

  • 100 sites in the South East, including Brighton, Oxford and Reading

  • 71 sites in the South West, including Bristol, Plymouth and Swindon

  • 54 sites in the West Midlands, including Birmingham, Warwick and Worcester

  • 61 sites in the East Midlands, including Leicester, Lincoln and Nottingham

  • 38 sites in the East of England, including Cambridge, St Albans and Hemel Hampstead

  • 50 sites in the North West, including Manchester, Liverpool and Warrington

  • 11 sites in the North East, including Durham, Newcastle and Sunderland

  • 35 sites in Yorkshire, including Middlesbrough, Harrogate and Halifax

  • 20 sites in Scotland, including Edinburgh, Dumbarton and Shotts

  • 30 sites in Wales, including Cardiff, Newport and Swansea

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