LIDL CREATES 400 JOBS AS IT OPENS 11TH UK WAREHOUSE

The Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) in Wednesbury is Lidl’s 11th in the UK

· Warehouse is Lidl UK’s biggest at 40,500 m² - the equivalent of 10 football pitches
· Opening boosts local economy with 400 new jobs
· Forms part of supermarket’s £1.5 billion expansion investment between 2015-18
· RDC will service 56 stores, with an additional 8 stores planned in the next two years

30th March 2017: Lidl UK has today announced the opening of its 11th Regional Distribution Centre (RDC), in Wednesbury, providing a major boost to the local economy and employment through the creation of 400 new jobs. The new RDC - the supermarket’s second to open in just six months - forms part of Lidl’s ongoing expansion plans in Great Britain and is its biggest warehouse in the UK, at 40,500 m².

The opening underlines the retailer’s commitment to the sustainable growth of its business both in the region and across the rest of the UK, as it continues to experience unprecedented sales growth.

The supermarket, which opened its first British-based RDC in 1994 in nearby Lutterworth, currently has warehouses in ten other locations up and down the country, including Southampton, Northfleet, Enfield, Belvedere, Bridgend, Livingston, Weston-Super-Mare, Lutterworth, Newton Aycliffe, and Runcorn.

Last year, the grocer opened a new warehouse in Southampton, and recently announced that plans to relocate and expand its Scottish RDC to Eurocentral, creating over 350 jobs, had been given the green light for construction, while further warehouses in Exeter, Doncaster and Bolton are also in the pipeline.

The new RDC, which is the size of 10 football pitches, boasts facilities of the highest design specification. Having been built with Lidl’s strong sustainability credentials in mind, the development incorporates leading efficiency measures to guarantee minimum impact on the environment, including the latest energy efficient mechanical and electrical equipment available, from innovative heat recovery systems to renewable and other zero-carbon technologies.

The opening of its Wednesbury RDC follows the commitment made by Lidl UK in November 2015 to invest £1.5 billion over the next three years, as it continues to expand its warehouses and 650-strong store portfolio to accommodate its rapid growth in the UK.

Richard Shaw, Lidl UK Regional Director for Wednesbury, said: “The opening of our new Lidl Wednesbury warehouse marks an incredibly exciting time for the business, particularly in and around the West Midlands. Not only is it necessary to accommodate the scale of our existing and future operations in the area, we have been able to create significant job opportunities as a result of the new warehouse and will continue to invest in the West Midlands and beyond, as we move forward with our expansion plans.

“We are incredibly proud of the teams here at Lidl that have been working in the background to get the new warehouse off the ground, and would like to extend our thanks to all those involved for their hard work and dedication.”

In October 2015 the supermarket became the first to introduce the real living wage, as set by the Living Wage Foundation, and were proud to be the first supermarket to announce a further increase in entry-level salaries, to match the Living Wage Foundation’s new rates in 2017. This will ensure that Lidl employees across its stores and regional distribution centres are amongst the best paid in the industry.

Lidl’s success continues with latest Kantar Worldpanel* figures showing a market share high of 4.6%. and year-on-year sales growth of 13%, making it the fastest growing supermarket in Britain.

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