Aldi wants to open three new Shropshire stores creating 105 jobs

Aldi is scouting for a central location in Shrewsbury, and in Dawley and Wrekin Retail Park in Telford.

The UK’s fifth largest supermarket is hoping to build on its expansion drive in recent years, which has seen it open around one new store a week on average, including its Milton Drive premises in Market Drayton in September 2020.

The budget supermarket giant, which now has more than 900 stores across the UK and purchased a 5.7-acre site by Battlefield roundabout in Shrewsbury earlier this year, will be searching for freehold town-centre or edge-of-centre sites suitable for development.

The company said each site would be around 1.5 acres and able to accommodate a 20,000sqft store with some 100 parking spaces, ideally on a prominent main road and with good visibility and access.

In comparison, its first site in Market Drayton stands at 14,155sqft of retail space.

Ciaran Aldridge, national property director at Aldi UK, said: "The past year has been incredibly difficult for everyone and we want to thank every single one of our colleagues at Aldi for their hard work and commitment throughout. Our amazing colleagues across the country have worked tirelessly over the last year to support their local communities no matter what.

Services

"We’re conscious that there are still lots of people who can’t access the amazing quality and unbeatable prices that our customers find at Aldi. Opening new stores and launching services like Click & Collect and Deliveroo help create more ways for people to shop at Aldi.

"If Aldi finds a suitable site and are able to open a new store, it would create around 30-35 new jobs."

In late September 2020, Aldi announced plans to open 100 new stores, involving investment of £1.3 billion and the creation of 4,000 jobs by the end of 2021.

The announcement came as the supermarket reported that sales grew by eight per cent to £12.28 billion in 2019, with pre-tax profits jumping by 49 per cent to £271.5 million. Aldi has long-term plans to grow to a portfolio of 1,200 stores in the UK by 2025.

Mr Aldridge added: "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.

“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.”