Business

Northern Ireland excluded from Aldi expansion plans

Aldi is opening 80 shops in the UK this year, but its expansion plans exclude Northern Ireland
Aldi is opening 80 shops in the UK this year, but its expansion plans exclude Northern Ireland Aldi is opening 80 shops in the UK this year, but its expansion plans exclude Northern Ireland

GERMAN discounter Aldi yesterday announced plans for 80 new stores in the UK this year - but ruled out expanding to Northern Ireland.

The group is experiencing massive growth across Britain and the Republic where it competes directly with Lidl, but has continually passed over the north.

A spokesman for the firm told the Irish News yesterday: "Aldi will opening stores throughout the UK however the business does not have any plans to open stores in Northern Ireland."

It comes as sales at sales continue to rocket at German rival Lidl across Northern Ireland.

According to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel, the budget grocer's market share jumped 18.6 per cent in the year to January to give it a market share of 4.4 per cent.

The value of Lidl's sales also rose 11.7 per cent south of the border over the same period.

That saw it close the gap on Aldi, moving to a 7.4 per cent share of the market against the 8 per cent of its rival.

Aldi said its expansion plans in the UK would create 5,000 jobs.

It already employs around 28,000 workers in more than 600 stores across Britain.

All Aldi employees are paid a minimum rate of £8.40 an hour, or £9.45 in London - well above the government's new national living wage of £7.40 for adults from April.

Meanwhile, Asda was the only on of the big three supermarkets in the north to see consumer spending increase over the year.

It rose by 1.8 per cent to give a market share of 17.2 per cent. Tesco and Sainsbury each saw a slight decline in spending resulting in a market share of 35.2 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.

The battle in the Republic remains more intense with SuperValu taking over as the most popular choice for shoppers.

Overall spending on groceries increased by 3.8 per cent over the past 12 weeks to January 31 ahead of Tesco and Dunnes.

Kantar Worldpanel insight director Georgieann Harrington said: “Tesco is still in second place, half a percentage point behind SuperValu, with a 24.5 per cent share of the grocery market. However, sales growth of 1.1 per cent makes this the most positive performance Tesco has seen since November 2012, so things are still looking up for the retailer.

“Elsewhere, Lidl has now seen double digit growth for the fourth consecutive 12 weekly period. The retailer is successfully driving growth across the board, with a higher number of shoppers visiting its stores more often and spending a larger amount each time.

"Aldi also posted a positive performance, with sales 2.9 per cent higher than in 2015. The main growth driver for Aldi has been an increase in customer numbers: almost 65 per cent of all Irish households visited the retailer within the past 12 weeks, compared with just shy of 63 per cent a year ago.”