900th opening for supermarket chain creates 40 Liverpool jobs
Supermarket group Lidl GB is creating 40 jobs with the opening of its 900th British store, which is located on Edge Lane, near Liverpool city centre.
The opening, which takes place tomorrow (January 20) is one of five other store openings planned this month, which will create a total of almost 250 jobs.
The retailer said its staff will be paid an hourly wage of £10.10p per hour from March 1, which it said is higher than the Government’s National Living Wage, making them amongst the highest paid in the supermarket sector.
Lidl has opened more than 50 new stores in the past 12 months alone, contributing to its target of 1,100 stores by the end of 2025 in Great Britain.
The Germany-based discounter was recently crowned the fastest growing bricks and mortar retailer over the Christmas period for the second year running, with sales growing 2.6% year on year and 21% on a two-year basis.
Lidl opened its first store in Liverpool in 1996 in the city centre. This latest announcement marks the supermarket’s continued investment in Liverpool for 2022 and beyond, as demand continues to increase.
The store on Edge Lane is Lidl’s fifth in Liverpool, and the supermarket has a requirement for a further 12 new store locations in and around Liverpool, including Woolton, West Derby and Allerton.
James Maule-Ffinch, senior asset manager of The Derwent Group which owns the site of the new Lidl as well as the neighbouring Liverpool Shopping Park and Montrose Retail Park, said: “Lidl brings additional amenity to the local area and complements the broad line up of retailers at Liverpool Shopping Park and nearby Montrose Retail Park.”
Lidl GB chief executive, Christian Härtnagel, who will soon be handing over to new CEO Ryan McDonnell, said: “As my time at Lidl GB comes to an end, I have been reflecting on our achievements over the past five years.
“Since my appointment in 2016, we have opened over 240 stores and seven distribution centres, creating thousands of new jobs for the UK economy.
“The opening of our 900th store reiterates our ambitious plans and commitment to Great Britain, and we remain on track to open 1,100 stores by the end of 2025.”
As part of its plans, Lidl has committed to investing £1.3bn in its store expansion over 2021 and 2022.
All new stores will also benefit from the discounter’s surplus food donation programme, Feed It Back, in partnership with Neighbourly, which donated 2.7 million meals to local good causes in 2020 and 5.5 million in 2021.
