Aldi reveals list of 30 places where it wants to open stores with Edinburgh included - see full list

Aldi, who operate just shy of 1,000 stores across the UK are stepping up their efforts to operate 1,200 stores - and have released a list of locations where they wish to build a new site

Supermarket chain Aldi have revealed a list of 30 locations across the UK where they want to open new stores, and the list includes Edinburgh. This comes as Aldi continues to work towards their target of 1,200 stores.

Aldi currently operates more than 990 stores, and the news emerges as new industry data reveals that Aldi remains the fastest-growing supermarket with sales growing by over 26% year-on-year.

In the last three months alone, Aldi has attracted 1.3m more shoppers with customer spend switching from every other supermarket. The supermarket has been named the nation’s favourite supermarket, according to the latest polling data from YouGov.

Aldi plans to invest more than £400 million in store development over the coming year as it targets new and refurbished stores across the UK, including in the Midlands, North West, North East, Yorkshire and coastal towns.

Aldi have set parameters for their new stores. They are on the lookout for freehold town-centre or edge-of-town sites that are around 1.5 acres and can accommodate a 20,000sq foot store with around 100 parking spaces.

In addition to this, they would prefer their new site to be located near a main road, with good visibility and access. Aldi will also offer a finder’s fee for agents who recommend a site, which is either 1.5% of a freehold price or 10% of the first year’s rent for leasehold sites.

Giles Hurley, chief executive officer at Aldi UK, said: “Demand for Aldi has never been higher; there are still some towns and areas that either don’t have access to an Aldi or have capacity for additional stores. To meet that demand, we need to open more stores and it’s our mission to keep driving our ambitious expansion plan to achieve that.”

Priority locations for Aldi include:

The Aldi sign.

1. Birmingham

2. Warwick

3. Wellingborough

4. Cathcart, Glasgow

5. Drylaw, Edinburgh

6. Bonnyrigg

7. Wilmslow

8. Wigan

9. Penwortham

10. Barry

11. Torquay

12. Saltash

13. Basildon

14. Rayleigh

15. St Albans

16. York

17. Harrogate

18. Scarborough

19. Sunderland

20. Chesterfield

21. Ossett

22. Formby

23. Upton

24. Liverpool

25. Chesterton

26. Tunbridge Wells

27. Worthing

28. Bath

29. Oxford

30. Dorchester