ALDI TO INVEST £900M AND OPEN 40 STORES NEXT YEAR

Aldi has announced plans to invest £900m and open more than 40 new stores in the UK next year, according to the retailer. The German-owned chain, which currently runs 1,092 supermarkets across the UK and Ireland, reported that sales rose 5% to a record £19bn over the past year. Profits fell by £2.6m to £433m, which Aldi attributed to price cuts made despite ongoing cost inflation. Giles Hurley, boss of Aldi's UK and Irish arm, said the company had "increasing confidence" in its growth plans. He said Aldi was already the third largest UK supermarket by items sold and customer numbers, though Worldpanel data cited in reporting shows Asda holds a narrow lead over Aldi by value of sales, at 10.6% market share in mainland UK.

Aldi opened 40 stores over the past year and plans 42 more this year, with 30 due to open within the next 10 weeks. Investment is set to rise by about £100m to £900m, as the chain works towards a longer-term target of 1,500 outlets across the UK and Ireland. Hurley said finding suitable sites remained a constraint, describing the planning process as "at times, challenging". He said consumers were "feeling the pinch" amid persistent inflation, and credited the "continuity and clarity" of Aldi's product range with attracting 425,300 additional customers. Grocery inflation stood at 2.8% in August, according to the British Retail Consortium.

Hurley said the outlook for food prices was difficult to assess until the effects of drought and extreme heat on UK crop yields became clearer, though he said the industry was "not seeing systemic food shortages". He described the climate crisis as posing "a real challenge" for food producers and called on the government to treat the UK's food system as "a national strategic priority", warning that reliance on imports "leaves us exposed". Hurley also claimed Aldi was the only grocery chain currently reducing prices.