Lidl is ramping up its expansion plans, having issued almost three times as many planning applications in the last quarter of 2015 as its rival Aldi according to figures compiled by Barbour ABI for The Sunday Telegraph.
The retailer has said that it is working to increase its UK presence to 1,500 stores which is more than twice its current estate. In the last three months of 2015 Lidl filed 48 applications for new outlets, worth around £150 million in construction costs alone. In comparison, Aldi made only 17 applications during this time and Sainsbury’s filed just 22 in the whole year.
Michael Dall of Barbour ABI commented: “The end of 2015 showed once again that Aldi and Lidl are the only supermarkets in the UK with the appetite for investment in retail space.
“While the big players remain focused on retaining current market share, Lidl in particular has maintained its ambitious expansion plans.”
The attention on expansion comes at a time when several major supermarket players are downsizing, particularly as more and more customers choose to shop online or turn to weekly convenience store visits as opposed to larger supermarket shopping trips.
In November, Lidl announced plans to invest £1.5 billion over the next three years to support expansion. This will include updated and refurbished outlets with self-checkouts and customer toilets, as well as pushing into more affluent areas, with 280 stores to open in London alone.
The German discounter is also planning to enter America by 2018.
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