Aldi is preparing to open nearly 30 new stores across the UK before Christmas, giving more shoppers access to the discount supermarket.
The new branches will open over the next 10 weeks in locations including Dumbarton, Newport and Willesden in London.
The openings will expand Aldi’s network beyond its current 1,092 stores and form part of its longer-term ambition to reach 1,500 branches nationwide.
The announcement comes as Aldi revealed this week that annual sales rose five per cent to a record £19billion in the year to December 31, 2025.
Industry figures put its share of the UK grocery market at 10.6 per cent. Aldi has held the title of Britain’s cheapest supermarket for five consecutive years and remains the only major grocer whose prices are falling compared with a year earlier.
The retailer plans to invest a record £900million in its operations next year. The spending will fund 40 new stores in 2027, alongside improvements to its distribution network.
Aldi says the investment will help it reach communities that are “cut off” from affordable groceries because of limited local choice or a lack of competition.
The expansion forms part of a wider effort to make food more affordable as inflation rises. This combines new store openings with price cuts and closer partnerships with British producers.
So far this year, Aldi has spent £340million reducing prices on more than 1,000 products.
Everyday staples including orange juice, butter, fresh meat and frozen fish are among the products that have become cheaper.
Aldi has spent £340million reducing prices on more than 1,000 products
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Aldi has pledged to keep cutting prices across its range as the festive season approaches.
The full list of locations set to welcome a new Aldi store before the end of 2026 includes:
Bishop’s Cleeve, GloucestershireMalton, North YorkshireOrpington, Greater LondonAshford, KentNewport, South WalesNewport, Isle of WightBasildon, EssexMatlock, DerbyshireWimborne, DorsetStepney Green, LondonOrrell, Greater ManchesterDumbarton, West DunbartonshireStourport-on-Severn, WorcestershireEpsom, SurreyWellington, SomersetHattersley, Greater ManchesterHanworth, Greater LondonWillesden, LondonLongbridge, West MidlandsWaterlooville, HampshireEgremont, CumbriaLower Gornal, West MidlandsDriffield, East YorkshireChatham, Kent
The chain describes its approach as a “relentless focus on simple, everyday low prices and award-winning quality.”
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The supermarket says its growth has been driven by increasing numbers of shoppers purchasing more items in more locations, a trend it attributes to its unwavering commitment to keeping prices low.
The chain describes its approach as a “relentless focus on simple, everyday low prices and award-winning quality.”
The supermarket spent £14billion with British suppliers last year, with UK producers accounting for around 80 per cent of its sales. All its everyday fresh beef, pork and poultry comes from British farms.
By 2027, Aldi aims to source at least half its products through long-term supplier agreements. These contracts are intended to help producers invest and expand, reducing Britain’s reliance on imported food.
Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “The cost of food remains one of the biggest pressures on households across the country.
“Recent droughts at home and events overseas have highlighted just how fragile our food system is and why food security must be a long-term national priority.”
Despite the record turnover, operating profit remained essentially unchanged at £432.9million, compared with £435.5million the previous year.
The operating margin dipped slightly from 2.4 per cent to 2.3 per cent, reflecting the company’s continued investment in prices, infrastructure and staff wages.
On pay, Aldi has raised Store Assistant wages twice this year. Colleagues now earn a minimum of £13.50 per hour nationally, rising to £14.88 for those working within the M25.
Mr Hurley said: “We’re working hard to make good food more affordable for every family, cutting prices on everyday essentials, signing long-term supplier agreements to help increase home-grown production, and continuing to bring affordable groceries to even more communities through our store opening programme.
“This is why more customers are buying more products at Aldi, our relentless focus on simple, everyday low prices and award-winning quality.”