Lidl has announced a £500 million expansion plan for London that will include the discounter's most central store in the capital.
The investment, which will take place across the next five years, is aimed at expanding Lidl's presence across London, and significantly bolstering its current portfolio of 88 stores within the M25 with the addition of 40 new outlets.
Among the new stores, which will be in locations including Alperton, East Acton, Hackbridge and Watford, will be a site on Tottenham Court Road near Warren Street Tube station. With a 1,300 sq m sales area, the retailer's most central store will stock a full range of products including its middle aisle items.
The half-a-billion-pound investment plan includes a new head office in Tolworth, south-west London. The 250,000 sq ft space will accommodate all of Lidl's 800 head office employees.
The spend comes on the back of the recent announcement that the retailer is expanding its distribution centre in Belvedere, which services stores across south London, and is in addition to a new distribution centre planned near Luton to service Greater London.
Christian Härtnagel, chief executive of Lidl GB,said: 'It’s coming up to 25 years since we first launched in London, and in that time we’ve grown to almost 90 stores, employing more than 5,000 people. London is at the heart of our growth plans across Great Britain, and we are proud to be in a position where we’re continuing to create new jobs. Our £500m investment reflects the scale of opportunity we have to bring our quality produce to even more of the capital’s communities, at prices that make it affordable to everyone.”
Chief development officer Ingo Fischer added:“We are incredibly excited about our plans to open a new Lidl store on Tottenham Court Road, right in the heart of London. This comes as a direct result of continued customer demand for the Lidl offering across the capital, and joins a pipeline of new stores planned for the near future. These will be supported by our investment of our operations and infrastructure, including a new distribution centre near Luton, the expansion of our Belvedere warehouse and, of course, our new London HQ.”
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