Lidl unveils plans to open 25 new stores this year, resulting in 1,000 UK jobs
Lidl has said it plans to open 25 new shops over the next six months, creating 1,000 new job opportunities for UK workers.
The discount retailer also unveiled plans to invest £1.3bn next year and in 2022 to create 100 new stores and create 4,000 jobs.
Lidl added that it intends to have 1,000 stores operating in the UK by the end of 2023.
The company said: “The discounter is committed to fulfilling its ambitious store opening programme, despite disruption to construction amid the coronavirus pandemic.”
Lidl’s chief executive officer Christian Härtnagel added: “It is testament to the continued hard work of our colleagues that we are able to continue forging ahead with our expansion plans, despite the challenging circumstances that have been faced over the past months.
“I am incredibly grateful to all Lidl teams for their unwavering commitment to keeping the nation fed, and we very much look forward to welcoming more people into the Lidl family in the weeks and months ahead.
“Families up and down the country rely on Lidl for affordable, high quality groceries. With the pandemic affecting household finances, our mission to offer value to as many people as possible is more important than ever and is why we remain committed to our store opening programme.
“With new Lidl stores opening every month, we are offering more communities the opportunity to shop for our great quality products at Lidl prices.”
The news comes as it was revealed that unemployment rates would surge to 3.5 million this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
A recent poll by the Bank of England found that, despite the opening up of shops and the easing of lockdown measures that has allowed millions of people to return to work, company financial officers were more pessimistic in June about the outlook for jobs than than they were a month ago.
On average, the 2,776 people surveyed predicted that 11 per cent of the workforce will be out of a job before the end of this year, up sharply from April’s official unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent.
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