Aldi is to continue opening new stores in the UK as Aldi boss Giles Hurley has said its “relentless” expansion will not be stopped, despite sabotage by supermarket rivals.
Hurley, chief executive of the German discounter, said a campaign of planning objections by rival grocers had delayed its expansion plans.
He said the objections came after an effort to “prevent” customers from switching to Aldi, as reported by The Telegraph.
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In October 2018, the German grocer set a target of having 1,200 UK stores by 2025, requiring it to open 60 new supermarkets a year on average.
“We’re receiving more objections from our competition than we used to,” he said.
“If you look at the price gap between Aldi and the more expensive traditional supermarkets it’s been very consistent for years and I guess one of the ways to try to prevent customers from taking advantage of that is to slow down or stop openings.”
The company is currently running behind schedule, with Aldi on course to open 40 locations this year. Its 1,000th UK branch will open in the next few weeks.
Hurley said the discounter may not reach its goal of opening 200 extra stores within the next two years after progress was “slowed by events outside of our control”.
Aldi’s market share reached a new record last week, sitting at 9.9%, primarily driven by a 25.4% increase in sales.
