LIDL GB OPENS 800TH STORE FOLLOWING THE OPENING OF 50 NEW STORES IN 12 MONTHS

• Lidl has today opened its 800^th store in Great Britain
• The milestone comes after the discounter opened 50 new stores in the past 12 months, creating more than 2,500 new jobs
• Expansion at Lidl continues at pace, with a total of 16 new stores opening across January and February, contributing to Lidl’s target of 1,000 stores by the end of 2023 in Great Britain
• The supermarket has committed to investing £1.3bn in its store expansion over 2021 and 2022
• Lidl GB continues to be the fastest-growing supermarket in the UK, recording year-on-year sales growth of 11.1% in January*

20 Feb 2020: Lidl GB has today opened its 800th store in Great Britain. The milestone comes after the discounter opened 50 new stores in the past 12 months alone, creating over 2,500 new jobs.

Today, Lidl will open stores in four new locations up and down the country, including Cambridge, London, Boston and Dumbarton. This will be followed by a further six new stores next week, creating up to 400 new jobs.

The supermarket continues to expand at pace, having opened a total of 16 new stores across January and February, contributing to its target of 1,000 stores by the end of 2023 in Great Britain. The retailer also recently marked the opening of its 100^th store in Scotland and is due to open its 100^th store in London this year.

Lidl GB Chief Executive Officer Christian Härtnagel said: “We’re excited to have reached this milestone, which simply means that we’re bringing affordable, high quality food to even more households across Britain. I’m proud of our fantastic teams, from our colleagues working on the shop floor to our colleagues in the warehouse and across our offices, who have driven our expansion efforts around the country. We’re looking forward to opening our doors to even more communities this year and into this new decade where we see so much potential for further growth.”

As part of its ongoing plans, Lidl has committed to investing £1.3bn in its store expansion over 2021 and 2022. This follows the bolstering of its logistics capabilities, which included the opening and expansion of six warehouses over the last four years, to continue to support its growing store network.

Lidl’s expansion is matched by continued strong sales growth. The most recent set of Kantar data shows that the supermarket is the fastest-growing supermarket in the UK, with gross sales growing 11.1% year-on-year*.

Employees working in the recently-opened stores will benefit from Lidl’s hourly wage of £9.30 per hour outside of London and £10.75 within the M25 from March 1^st, which is higher than the Government’s “National Living Wage“, making them amongst the highest paid in the supermarket sector.

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*12 weeks to 26^th January

About Lidl GB

Since establishing itself in Great Britain in 1994, Lidl has experienced continuous growth and today has over 24,500 employees, 800 stores and 13 distribution centres in England, Scotland and Wales. As part of the Schwarz retail group, Lidl is one of Europe’s leading organisations in the food retail industry. With a presence in 32 countries around the world, the supermarket, which has more than 287,000 employees globally, currently operates approximately 10,800 stores and more than 160 distribution centres in 29 countries globally. The family supermarket takes pride in providing its customers with the highest quality products at the lowest possible prices throughout Great Britain, from Kirkwall to the Isle of Wight. Social responsibility and sustainability are at the core of the company's daily operations, with the company placing a strong emphasis on its responsibility for people, society and the environment. Lidl GB is passionate about working with British producers and sources two thirds of its products from British suppliers.

The Schwarz Group (Kaufland, Lidl) has been Europe's largest food retailer since 2014 and generated a turnover of €104.3 billion in financial year 2018.

For more information about Lidl GB visit https://corporate.lidl.co.uk/