UK discounter Aldi has announced an £800 million annual investment as it plans to expand its distribution centres and open new stores.
Aldi said its focus on lowering prices and opening stores would bring “affordable groceries to millions more British families”, as well as creating “thousands of jobs and more opportunities for British suppliers”.
It plans to use the investment to open 23 new locations before the end of 2024, while refurbishing 100 existing stores this year and expanding distribution centres. The retailer currently has over 1,000 stores, with plans to scale to 1,500 stores across the UK.
It also said it had invested almost £100 million in price cuts over the last three months, while investing £79 million in pay increases for the year. Aldi stated it had spent an extra £1.3 billion with its 5,000 British suppliers last year, with that amount “set to increase further as it established more long-term supply partnerships”.
Aldi highlights “record investment levels”
This follows a previous announcement of a “record investment” alongside its annual results for the year ended 31st December 2023, which showed sales increased by £2.4 billion to £17.9 billion, an increase of 16% and its highest period of sales growth.
Giles Hurley, CEO for Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “British shoppers are voting with their feet and choosing Aldi as their first-choice supermarket. We’re responding with our biggest ever annual investment in Britain.
“For every £1 of profit generated last year, we’re investing £2 this year – opening more stores and building the supply infrastructure to bring high quality, affordable groceries to millions more families the length and breadth of Britain.
“We’re also investing at record levels to cut prices, reward our amazing colleagues and support more causes in our local communities. All while creating thousands more jobs and even more opportunities for our growing base of British suppliers and farmers.”
