Aldi has announced plans to create 4,000 jobs and open about 70 new stores this year, and is looking to reach 1,000 supermarkets by 2020.
The group, which already employs 29,000 staff in total across the UK, will open its 700th UK store in February, putting it on track to hit a target of 1,000 by 2020. It is also set to open a distribution centre in Cardiff in March, taking its UK total to nine.
Aldi has also said it will become the UK’s highest paying supermarket when it increases its minimum wage to £8.53 an hour from next month.
The German supermarket chain said 3,350 UK workers will benefit from the pay rise on 1 February. Staff in London will be paid an hourly rate of £9.75. The move comes a year after
Aldi raised its minimum wage to £8.40 an hour, and to £9.45 an hour in London. It also beats the Government’s national Living Wage of £7.20 an hour, which will go up to £7.50 in April.