Aldi is in talks with No 10 over planning reform, as the discounter seeks to speed up new store openings.
Aldi is offering investment to address “under-resourcing” in local authorities, which is currently causing the planning application process to take over a year.
Aldi UK’s national real estate director George Brown visited No 10 last week, he revealed on LinkedIn.
“It was a pleasure to be invited to No 10 today to discuss planning reform with Nick Williams, senior special advisor to the PM,” said Brown.
“Obtaining planning consent for new Aldi schemes can take us over 12 months due to under-resourcing in local authorities. We will happily invest in the application process to help speed that up.
“A new Aldi store is also a significant job creator in local communities, delivering the some of the top salary levels in retail in addition to #everydayamazing benefits and great opportunities for career progression.”
Brown said retail should be given more weighting in the decision-making process to reflect the greater number of jobs it delivered compared with general industrial and storage and distribution applications, classed as ‘B2’ and ‘B8’ respectively.
“Unlike some traditional employment occupiers (such as B2 and B8) which may have far lower job density, retail is not given the same weighting in the decision making process,” said Brown. “To unlock significant investment in the UK economy this needs to change.”
The government launched a consultation in July on proposed changes to planning policy including increasing planning application fees – principally for householders but with possible increases for other applications – to boost local authority resourcing. The deadline for responses is 24 September.
Aldi said in July that it aimed to open a store week until Christmas, taking its UK estate to over 1,040 and creating 1,000 new jobs. Its store assistants are paid a sector-leading entry-level hourly rate of £13.65 within the M25 and £12.40 across the rest of the UK
Aldi’s UK estate grew by little in the first half of 2024, remaining at about 1,020 stores. At the same time, its sales growth momentum has steadily slowed. Latest Kantar data, covering the 12 weeks to 4 August, puts its market share at 10%, down from 10.2% a year earlier. Its year-on-year sales growth was 0.5%, behind the total market’s 2.3% growth.
As well as delays in the local authority approval process, Aldi’s new stores are also consistently held up by planning objections from major supermarket rivals.
No comments yet