Aldi has employed its 2000th member of staff in Scotland and is on track to open its 72nd Scottish store by the end of the year.
Fraser Smith (25) joins Aldi as its 2000th employee in Scotland and will work in the Erskine store as Assistant Store Manager alongside a team of 19.
Aldi currently has 68 stores in Scotland and expects to see that figure rise to 72 by the end of the year with four store openings due in the coming months:
Strathaven (20 October)
Portobello (10 November)
Newton Mearns (17 November)
Port Glasgow (1 December)
Investment in new stores and staff has been a priority for ALDI, which expects to see its total employees north of the border grow to 2,300 by the end of the year – that’s nearly a 200% increase on staff numbers since 2012.
Fraser Smith, Assistant Store Manager and 2000th employee in Scotland, said, “I applied to work with Aldi because I wanted to be a part of the continued success story of such a rapidly expanding business.
'For me the best thing about working at Aldi is being part of a business which cares for and values their staff. This builds a highly motivated team who all work together to deliver rewarding results and I’m very proud to say that I work for Aldi.”
Fraser joins an Aldi Scotland team that has been operating north of the border since the first Scottish store opened its doors in Kilmarnock in 1994. Longest serving staff member Yvonne Brownlie (44) has been with the company since 1995 climbing the ranks from store assistant to store manager.
Mother of five Yvonne Brownlie is Store Manager at Aldi Hamilton. She said, “I had heard that Aldi was a great company to work for and I can confirm this has certainly been the case for me.
“There’s something different to learn everyday with Aldi and that’s the main thing I love about my job. The greatest change I’ve noticed over my 21 years is the increase in the number of store employees.
'Here in the Hamilton store we have grown our team from eight to thirty people and as a Store Manager, it’s my responsibility to make sure that everyone is providing the great customer service that Aldi prides itself on. This is a big focus of the company and I think it’s one of the strongest reasons that we’re an award-winning business.”
Aldi’s commitment to Scotland extends to its product offering. Stores in Scotland currently stock more than 340 everyday Scottish products sourced from over 60 independent food and drink businesses. This means that nearly one in three products in every Scottish stores is sourced from Scotland.
Richard Holloway, Managing Director, Aldi Scotland, said, “We set out to expand significantly in 2016 and, nine months into the year, we’re on track to realise those ambitions.
'We’re proud of the customer base we’ve built in Scotland, the amazing teams we’ve invested in and the 340 Scottish products taking pride of place on our shelves year round.
'We’re committed to growing our business in Scotland and look forward to continued success for our staff, stores and suppliers in the coming months.”
Details of Aldi’s 2017 store openings and expansion plans will be announced in December 2016.