Aldi has revealed it plans to create thousands of jobs by opening 29 new supermarket stores as the discounter continues its expansion across the UK.
In its annual trading update, Aldi said it had attracted record numbers of new shoppers in the past six months as consumers looked for low prices amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The surge in consumer popularity lead to the German discounter overtaking Morrisons to become Britain’s fourth largest retailer last month.
The latest data from retail research firm Kantar showed Aldi attracted 1.5 million extra customers to its stores over the past 12 weeks.
The discounter also saw sales grow by 18.7%, overtaking Morrisons with a market share of 9.3%.
The supermarket, which has over 970 stores in the UK, said it planned to open 16 more stores before the end of the year and is set to create over 6,000 new jobs in that time.
The areas where Aldi is looking to establish new stores include cities like Bath and Birmingham, as well as smaller towns such as Penzance and Maidenhead.
“The cost-of-living crisis is worsening, and it’s being felt by millions of households across the UK,” Aldi UK & Ireland CEO Giles Hurley said.
“It’s in times like these when our customers rely on us the most, which is why we’re focusing on continuing to deliver our longstanding price promise by offering the lowest possible prices in Britain, every single day.”
Hurley added that Aldi will do “whatever it takes” to maintain its low prices for the millions of customers that shop with Aldi.
The news comes as Aldi takes £170 million of sales from major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons in the past three months as it continues to increase its market share across the UK.
