Lidl to create 1,000 jobs through new Luton distribution centre
Lidl UK is to create up to 1,000 jobs when it opens a new regional distribution centre to service stores across London.
The supermarket has exchanged contracts with Houghton Regis Management, a consortium of Aviva Investors, LIH and the Diocese of St Albans, on a 58-acre site in Luton.
Spanning 1,000,000 square feet, the new warehouse will be double the size of any of Lidl’s other warehouses across the country. It will be the retailer’s fourth in Greater London and 16th in the UK, and will support warehouses in Belvedere, Northfleet and Enfield.
Along with the supermarket’s other London sites, the new warehouse will manage the supply and distribution of food and non-food products to Lidl stores in and around the M25. In the next two months, Lidl will open five new London stores in Shepherds Bush, Walthamstow Central, South Ruislip, Hornchurch and Rosehill.
Ingo Fischer, Lidl UK board director for expansion and development, said: “As more London households choose to shop at Lidl we are committed to the continued investment in our operations and infrastructure to support our growth.
“With five new stores opening in the next two months alone, and further store expansion and development plans in place for the Greater London area across the new financial year and beyond, this new warehouse is vital in supporting our ambitious expansion plans in and around the M25.”
The centre forms part of Lidl UK’s £1.45 billion expansion investment in the UK between 2017 and 2018.