Aldi to create more than 5,000 new jobs

(Sharecast News) - Aldi is to create more than 5,000 jobs in the UK this year, the German discounter announced on Wednesday. The grocer, which currently has 1,000 UK stores, said it planned to continue growing "at speed", including creating 5,500 new roles in 2024.

Those include in-store positions, such as cleaners, assistants and managers, as well as roles in its distribution centres and head office.

Aldi has already announced plans to open 500 further stores in the country as part of a £1.4bn investment programme.

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, said: "We continue to welcome more and more customers to Aldi stores very week, not just because of our unbeatable prices and British sourcing, but also our amazing colleagues."

Along with fellow German discounter Lidl, Aldi is one of the UK's fastest-growing supermarkets and is expanding rapidly. Both have benefitted from the cost-of-living crisis, as hard-presser consumers seek out more affordable weekly shops.

According to data from retail consultancy Kantar, Aldi's market share jumped 7.2% year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 21 January, while Lidl's improved 11.9%.

However, their market shares - at 9.3% and 7.5% respectively - are dwarfed by much larger rivals like Tesco, which has a 27.6% market share, and J Sainsbury, with a 15.7% share.

Aldi first opened in the UK in 1990. But it has expanded rapidly over the last decade, going from 300 to 1,000 stores as of last September.