The rapidly expanding discount supermarket chain Aldi has agreed four new leasing deals with British Land, to open new stores at four retail parks across the UK.
The deal will involve an allocation of around 85,000 square ft of space with:
- A 20,000 sq ft store at Crownpoint Shopping Park in Denton
- A 20,000 sq ft store at Crown Wharf in Walsall
- An expanded 21,000 sq ft store at Mostyn Champneys Shopping Park in Llandudno, doubling the size of its current store
- A 24,000 sq ft store, which is currently under construction at Kingston Centre in Milton Keynes
The news comes after Aldi has announced plans to recruit over 100 additional British suppliers in 2022, in a bid to accelerate its commitment to increase its spend with British suppliers by £3.5bn a year by the end of 2025.
This forms part of the supermarket’s push to further increase the number of products it sources from the UK across all product categories, including food, drink and Specialbuys.
In the last year, British Land turned its attention to retail parks, seeing a clear value opportunity and made around £400m of acquisitions, bringing its retail park portfolio value to £1.7bn (as of September 2021).
In the six months to November 2021, British Land says it completed more than one million square feet of retail leasing, with retail parks accounting for 60 per cent of this activity.
Darren Richards, Head of Real Estate at British Land, said: “We’re delighted that Aldi has chosen to expand with us across multiple locations.
“This string of deals highlights the continued confidence in retail parks, which are an increasingly preferred format for our customers. The sector has attractive long-term fundamentals driving increased occupier demand, including low operational cost for retailers combined with excellent accessibility.”
George Brown, National Property Director at Aldi, said: “Our store openings help to bring Aldi’s award-winning quality and unbeatable value to even more people across the UK, and we are delighted to be able to welcome more shoppers through our doors in these excellent new locations.”
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