Aldi has announced that over the next two years it will open 100 new stores across the UK including stores in Somerset.

The supermarket continues to push ahead with plans to open an average of one new store a week and has pledged to invest £1.3 billion by 2023.

Areas in Somerset where the supermarket is looking to secure sites include Chard, Cheddar, Frome, Taunton, Yeovil, Weston-super-Mare and Wincanton.

Aldi has more than 920 stores across the UK now and is looking for freehold town-centre or edge-of-centre sites that are suitable for property development.

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The development will see 2,000 new jobs come to the UK in addition to 7,000 over the last two years.

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Giles Hurley, chief executive for Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “As well as delivering record sales, we continued to invest for growth, deploying over £600 million in stores and distribution centres across the UK.

“This helped to create thousands of much-needed jobs and support for British farmers and manufacturers.

“Whilst the cost of responding to the pandemic dampened profits, our decision to return business rate relief was the right thing to do.”

The supermarket says it is also hoping to fulfil more criteria with the new sites as it looks for ones that are big enough to accommodate a 20,000 sq ft store and around 100 dedicated parking spaces.

Aldi would also prefer sites to be on a prominent main road and with good visibility and access.   

Investing in the development of new and expanded distribution centres is also something Aldi will be doing.

Richard Thornton, Communications Director at Aldi UK, said: “We’re continuing to gain even more customers - with over 60 per cent of UK households shopping with Aldi in the last year.

“Our focus is on expanding our store estate, making sure Aldi is accessible to as many of these new shoppers across the country as possible. Looking ahead, we are excited to provide millions of new customers with access to Aldi’s award-winning quality and unbeatable value as we create even more places and more ways to shop with us.”

Locations Aldi is targeting in Somerset

  • Chard
  • Cheddar
  • Frome
  • Taunton
  • Yeovil
  • Weston-super-Mare 
  • Wincanton