Aldi creating 200 Bathgate jobs amid boost for suppliers

Discount grocer Aldi today said it would be creating up to 200 jobs in West Lothian as it pledged to boost its range of Scottish food and drink produce.

Aldi's Scottish store network will grow to 78 by the end of this year. Picture: Michael Gillen

The German-owned supermarket, which already works with more than 80 of the country’s suppliers, said the number of products sourced from Scotland would rise from 350 to more than 400 over the next two years.

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Its pledge was announced at a supplier conference in Glasgow, attended by more than 200 delegates, where it also announced plans to invest £22 million in new chill facilities at its Bathgate headquarters – which recently underwent a multimillion-pound extension – in a move that will create up to 200 jobs.

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By the end of this year, Aldi’s store network in Scotland will total 78, bringing its workforce to more than 2,600. The group is set to open a new branch in Dumfries at the end of this month, with others to follow in Drumchapel, Montrose, Fort William and two in Edinburgh – in Oxgangs and the Cameron Toll shopping centre.

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Giles Hurley, the retailer’s managing director for UK & Ireland, said: “We have seen our customer numbers in Scotland increase by a staggering 280 per cent since 2010.

“Over the coming years, as we increase our range of Scottish products, we expect to grow our market share considerably and attract even more shoppers into stores.”

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