Aldi to create 5,500 jobs in huge expansion as it plans hundreds of new stores

21 February 2024 , 14:58

685     0

Aldi will go on a huge jobs drive this year (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Aldi has announced plans to create 5,500 new jobs this year as part of its huge UK expansion.

The budget supermarket, which is now the fourth biggest grocer in the UK, will be hiring for store assistants, managers and cleaners across new shops. Aldi also wants to recruit across its 11 regional distribution centres and for head office positions.

Store and warehouse assistants will get a starting salary of £12 an hour, rising to £12.95 nationally, while those working within the M25 will receive £13.55 an hour, rising to £13.85. Aldi has more than 1,000 stores and employs more than 45,000 workers.

The supermarket chain has already revealed plans to grow its estate to 1,500 stores in the coming years. Giles Hurley, chief executive officer at Aldi UK, said: “Our colleagues work incredibly hard and are without a doubt a huge part of our success at Aldi.

“We continue to welcome more and more customers to Aldi stores every week, not just because of our unbeatable prices and British sourcing, but also our amazing colleagues. We are looking forward to welcoming even more colleagues up and down the country to Team Aldi during 2024 as we progress towards our goal of making affordable, quality food accessible to everyone.”

Asda praised over inclusive kids clothing range with holes for feeding tubes

It comes after rival Lidl revealed plans to open 12 new stores across the UK. The budget supermarket is seeking investment partners as it looks to raise £91.1million. Lidl wants the investors to build the new supermarkets, which it will then rent from them. It wants the new stores to come with a 25-year lease, which will then be subject to rent reviews every five years.

Meanwhile, Aldi has also revealed it will roll out refill stations across more of its UK stores over the coming months, as part of a partnership with The Refill Coalition. The refill stations allow customers to bring their own packaging which they can fill up with Aldi branded cereal which cut out the single use packaging.

Aldi has not confirmed which stores will see the trial or how long the expansion trial will last, telling The Mirror that it would share further details on this update in due course. The first store to test out the refill stations is in Solihull.

Levi Winchester