Supermarket giant, Aldi has just opened its 900th UK store in Sandhurst, Berkshire.
The milestone follows Aldi’s pledge to invest £1.3bn within the UK over the next two years, including adding capacity to its store and distribution network to keep pace with demand from consumers. Aldi has also confirmed it will create around 4,000 jobs in the UK next year to support its continued store growth.
The low-priced supermarket is currently opening an average of one store each week, including new sites in Hertford, St Ives and Cambridge already this year, as it pushes ahead with plans to operate 1,200 UK stores by 2025.
The Aldi store in Sandhurst is the town’s first Aldi. Other places to receive their first Aldi in 2020 – the supermarket’s 30th anniversary year within the UK – include Plympton, Holyhead and Market Drayton.
The Sandhurst store represents one of more than 75 sites that Aldi now has in the South East, as it continues to attract new customers across the region.
John Richardson, Regional Managing Director, said, “Until today, Sandhurst was one of many areas in the UK without an Aldi. That means it was another place where people didn’t have easy access to the highest-quality groceries and the lowest prices, every day.
“Opening our 900th store means that, after years of careful investment in our UK store network, we’re another step forward in making Aldi available to as many shoppers as possible, which is more important than ever before as many household budgets become squeezed.
“Our 1,000th store is now firmly in sight and we’re on track to meet our target of operating 1,200 stores in the UK in five years’ time.”
Store Manager Rob Tandy said: “It’s been a wonderful morning here at the opening of Aldi Sandhurst. It was lovely to welcome our new customers into store and I look forward to meeting more of the community in the coming weeks.
“I’d also like to thank our customers for following the social distancing guidelines we have in place to ensure the safety of both our customers and colleagues.”
Aldi opened its first UK store in Stechford, Birmingham, in 1990.