Lidl will pay significant finder's fee to anyone who can help find suitable sites for new Edinburgh stores

Lidl is looking for suitable sites for new stores in Edinburgh – and has offered to pay anyone who helps it find one.

The supermarket will give a finder’s fee to any member of the public that successfully identifies a suitable site for a new Lidl store.

Lidl is seeking out sites in Edinburgh, and is particularly interested in developing stores in areas including Barnton/Davidson Mains, City Centre, Colinton/Currie, Gilmerton, Jewel/Newcraighall, Liberton, Meadowbank, Morningside, Murrayfield, Newington/Mayfield, Nicolson St, Oxgangs and Portobello.

It is also looking for suitable locations for potential store developments in Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Dundee, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, and North Lanarkshire.

The fee offered is either 1.5% of the total freehold purchase price or 10% of the first year’s rent for leaseholds, which would equate to £22,500 for a completed £1.5m site purchase.

Lidl, which is investing £1.3 billion in its Scottish expansion across 2021 and 2022, hopes to have 1,100 stores by the end of 2025.

Since the beginning of 2022, the supermarket has opened 23 new stores across the UK, including stores in Edinburgh Straiton, Bellshill, and Blairgowrie.

Lidl is looking for new sites across Scotland. (Photo credit: Kelvin Stuttard)

Richard Taylor, Chief Development Officer at Lidl GB said: “We know that the majority of Scottish shoppers still love doing their shopping in person and we are as committed as ever to opening new stores and enhancing our existing ones. We’re opening an average of one new store a week, which is incredible, and our teams have done a phenomenal job of keeping that pace going over the last couple of years.

“But there are still communities up and down the country that are telling us how much they want – and need - a Lidl store.

“We work with some of the best people in the industry to identify new sites, but we also know how engaged our future and existing customers are and we want to build on this.

“Our finder’s fees are, therefore, available to absolutely anyone that can identify a viable option for a new store that we’re not already aware of, and we welcome any suitable suggestions that will help up us to meet our ambitious target of 1,100 stores by the end of 2025.”