German discounter Lidl plans to build a new British main office and 250 new stores in and around the London area, creating an extra 5,000 jobs.
Target: 1,500 stores
Lidl’s parent company, Schwarz Gruppe, had already announced its discount chain has multiple priorities, including its arrival in the United States in 2018, an increased online presence and huge investments in the United Kingdom.
The chain plans to increase to 1,500 stores in the UK, although its current store network is still below half that number. Not only will it open nearly 250 new stores in and around London as part of that new drive, based on its new store formula, it will also create a new 240,000 sqm, 70 million pound (83 million euro) main office in Tolworth.
In total, the UK investments will total 1.5 billion pounds (nearly 1.8 billion euro) over a 3-year period and bring another 5,000 jobs to the country’s Lidl branch, which already employs 19,000 people. “Our new headquarters not only signify an investment in our own infrastructure and workforce, but also highlight our wider investment ambitions within London as Lidl UK continues to experience incredible growth”, Lidl UK board director Ingo Fischer said.
