Aldi to hire 5,000 extra UK workers as budget supermarket plans 80 new stores

Budget supermarket chain Aldi will hire 5,000 new staff in the UK as the German grocer plans to open 80 extra stores throughout 2016. The move will see the retailer boost its number of outlets to 700 as part of its expansion plans for Britain.

The company said job opportunities will be open in a number of roles, including store assistants, assistant store managers and store managers, and workers will be paid at least £9.45 ($13.69) per hour in London and £8.40 outside of the capital (above the current UK-wide National Minimum Wage rate of £6.70 an hour).

"To support our continued expansion and the ongoing performance of our existing stores, it's important that we attract the right candidates across all of our roles," said Ruth Doyle, a regional managing director for Aldi.

"We're looking for individuals with a real passion for retail who are seeking a long-term career with a growing and ambitious business.

"Aldi provides all staff with extensive training and development opportunities to ensure they have the necessary skills to make a real success of their career."

Aldi and rival budget supermarket Lidl continue to see their market share grow in the UK. The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, covering the 12 weeks ending 31 January, showed that Aldi's market share increased to 5.6%, up from 4.6% in February 2015.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, explained: "Both the discount retailers saw their growth accelerate – Lidl to 18.7% and Aldi to 13.7%.

"Both saw their share of the market increase by 0.7 percentage points, with Lidl's rising to 4.2% and Aldi's to 5.6% – a dip from the 10.0% combined market share high they experienced at the end of 2015.

"We can expect both retailers to continue to take market share this year as they fulfil their plans for more outlets."