Aldi has created a new national real estate team to facilitate around 500 new store openings in the UK.

In September, the supermarket chain announced long term plans to expand the number of stores in the UK to 1,500 to meet growing demand.

The team will be led by managing director of real estate Jonathan Neale, who has spent 21 years working at Aldi, and will be aided by Colliers as the company’s national advisors.

Aldi said it is particularly interested in sites in London and the South East where it wants to open around 200 new stores. It is also looking for potential locations across the UK, in areas “from Glasgow to Worthing”.

“Centralising our real estate team and making it easier for the real estate sector to deal with Aldi is the first step in accelerating progress towards our goal of opening a further 500 new stores,” said Neale. “We have clear, consistent requirements and want to partner with land-owners, landlords and developers.

“Listening to the sector, we know that our new national team will make it easier for people to work with us. We are now set up to have the kind of agility needed to find and deliver the sites and schemes that will help us to bring our amazing quality and unbeatable value to every town and community in the country.”

Earlier this month, Aldi announced it would guarantee store and warehouse employees at least £12 an hour nationally and £13.55 within the M25 from 1 February next year. The supermarket claims that its new minimum rate makes it the first to offer rates in line with the Real Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation in October.

---