Aldi opens its 10th UK distribution centre creating 400 new jobs
£50m facility in Sheppey will serve Aldi’s growing customer base in South East England
A further 130 new stores are set to open across the UK throughout this year and 2020
Aldi, Britain’s fifth largest and fastest-growing supermarket, has opened a new £50m distribution centre in Kent.
The 60,000m2 site on the Isle of Sheppey is Aldi’s 10th UK distribution centre and will serve the supermarket’s growing customer base across the South East.
The facility will act as a new hub for Aldi in the South East and will employ more than 400 colleagues and serve nearly 60 stores.
The supermarket – now operating 827 stores – has attracted almost a million new customers during the last 12 months thanks to its unique combination of award-winning quality products at unrivalled prices, and has a 7.5% share of the UK grocery market.
Aldi has announced plans to open 130 new stores in 2019 and 2020, and extended its long-term store opening target to 1,200 stores across the UK by the end of 2025. This includes many new stores within the South East, including London, Brighton and Deal.
Ben Shotter, Managing Director for the Isle of Sheppey Regional Distribution Centre, said: “The new Sheppey distribution centre significantly increases our capacity and allows us to open more stores across the South East to cater for the growing number of shoppers switching to Aldi.
“Although some of our newest and most popular stores are situated in the South East, there are still many towns and cities where we have a limited presence or none at all. This is something that we are looking to address in the coming years.”