Aldi to employ 4,000 people and open 100 stores next year
Aldi has announced it will employ thousands of extra workers over the next year as it continues to expand in the UK.
The German discount supermarket said it expected to create 4,000 jobs in 2021, adding to 3,000 new roles already created in 2020.
It plans to invest £1.3 billion over the next two years, sticking with its store opening plan despite the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on shoppers’ behaviour.
Aldi will also complete over 100 store upgrades, along with investment in distribution centres and in recent innovations such as a click and collect service.
The supermarket currently trades from about 900 stores in the UK and plans to open 1,200 stores by 2025.
Aldi has grown its market share in the UK to 8% over the last decade thanks to its aggressive store opening programme.
However, industry data has shown its share edge lower during the pandemic, hindered in particular by a lack of online capability.
That has prompted Aldi to accelerate its push into home delivery so it can benefit from a jump in demand that is expected to endure beyond the crisis.
In April it started selling online food parcels to help self-isolating and vulnerable customers.
It is also ramping up a rapid delivery service in partnership with Deliveroo and is trialing click and collect.
Chief Executive Giles Hurley said Aldi was committed to remaining “Britain’s lowest-priced supermarket” – a claim Aldi says is backed by industry data.
‘With the UK’s economic outlook increasingly uncertain, families are more concerned about their grocery bills than ever,’ he said.
Aldi, Britain’s fifth-biggest supermarket, reported a 49% increase in operating profit to £291.2 million for 2019, on total sales up 8% to £12.3b, but that was before the pandemic.
It said margins improved, with efficiencies of scale offsetting price cuts.
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