Overview

• Aldi confirmed a two‑year investment for 2026–27 to fund 80 new supermarkets, with the programme expected to create thousands of jobs.
• Twenty‑one stores will open in the next 13 weeks, with named sites including Shoreditch, Durham, Kirkintilloch, Deeside, Nelson, Eastbourne, Watford, Waterbrook, Pershore and Billericay.
• Total sales in the UK and Ireland rose to £18.1bn in 2024 from £17.9bn, while operating profit fell to £435.5m from £552.9m as it invested in prices, pay and infrastructure.
• Aldi says it has spent about £300m to reduce prices on roughly 900 products ahead of Christmas, and raised hourly pay to £13.02 nationwide and £14.35 inside the M25.
• UK chief executive Giles Hurley warned that further employer‑cost measures in the autumn Budget could feed through into higher food prices, citing recent national insurance and packaging costs as examples already impacting shelves.