LIDL UK CREATES 700 NEW JOBS AS IT REACHES 700 STORES

- Since the beginning of 2018, the supermarket is set to open 19 new stores by the end of February, as demand for Lidl grows among UK shoppers
- Five new stores to open today in Edinburgh, Stockton, Hull, Polegate and Rosehill (South London), taking store count to 700
- New store openings in January and February have created over 700 new jobs
- Openings are the latest in Lidl’s £1.45bn expansion and development investment across 2017-2018
- The supermarket plans to open over 50 new stores and regenerate 30 existing stores in FY 2018

15 February 2018: Lidl, the UK’s fastest growing supermarket, has today reached a major milestone with the opening of five new stores, which takes its total store count in Great Britain to 700.

The new stores in Edinburgh, Stockton, Hull, Polegate and Rosehill (South London), form part of an accelerated period of expansion for Lidl, which sees the supermarket set to open up to 19 new stores over an eight week period*.

As a result of the openings, the supermarket, which opened the doors to its first British stores in 1994, has created over 700 new jobs, with 200 new employees celebrating the opening of their new stores today.

All new hourly paid store employees will be amongst the best paid in the industry, following Lidl’s commitment last November to pay the Living Wage, which comes into effect on 1st March this year.

Ingo Fischer, Lidl UK Board Director for Expansion and Development said:

“As the UK’s fastest growing supermarket, surpassing 700 stores is yet further proof of our ambitious rate of expansion across Britain. It’s great that more people than ever before have access to our high quality, fresh and locally sourced products at incredible value, and that as a result, we’re able to create more jobs for local communities up and down the country.”

The new stores form part of Lidl UK’s £1.45bn expansion investment in Great Britain across 2017-18, which includes plans to open over 50 new stores and regenerate 30 existing stores in FY 2018. The supermarket also announced plans at the beginning of the year for a major new Regional Distribution Centre in Luton, which is in addition to a further five new warehouses already in the pipeline.

The news follows a bumper Christmas for the grocer, which experienced a sales growth of 16% year on year. Lidl’s success shows no signs of slowing, with the latest Kantar Worldpanel results** outlining a sales growth of 16.3% year on year and market share of 5%, making it still the fastest growing supermarket in the UK.

*4th Jan – 22nd Feb
** Kantar Worldpanel, 12 weeks to 28 January 2018

ENDS