Aldi reveals list of 30 places where it wants to open stores with Sunderland included - see full list

Aldi has stepped up its search for new sites as it aims to continue expanding their reach. The supermarket currently operates more than 990 stores across the UK, but are continuing their effort to reach their current target of 1,200 stores.

The supermarket is planning to build new sites in 30 different locations around the UK, and Sunderland is on the list. This comes as new industry data reveals Aldi remains the fastest-growing supermarket.

Sales for Aldi have been growing over 26% year-on-year. And, during the last three months Aldi attracted 1.3m more shoppers with customer spend switching from every other supermarket.

Aldi plans to invest more than £400 million in store development over the coming year as it targets new and refurbished stores across the UK. New sites are being scouted in the Midlands, North West, North East, Yorkshire as well as coastal towns.

Aldi is on the lookout for freehold town-centre or edge-of-town sites that are around 1.5 acres and can accommodate a 20,000sq foot store with around 100 parking spaces. Ideally, the supermarket would prefer the new sites to be near main roads with good visibility and access.

Giles Hurley, chief executive officer at Aldi UK, said: “Demand for Aldi has never been higher; there are still some towns and areas that either don’t have access to an Aldi or have capacity for additional stores. To meet that demand, we need to open more stores and it’s our mission to keep driving our ambitious expansion plan to achieve that.”

Priority locations for Aldi include:

1. Birmingham

2. Warwick

3. Wellingborough

4. Cathcart, Glasgow

5. Drylaw, Edinburgh

6. Bonnyrigg

7. Wilmslow

8. Wigan

9. Penwortham

10. Barry

11. Torquay

12. Saltash

13. Basildon

14. Rayleigh

15. St Albans

16. York

17. Harrogate

18. Scarborough

19. Sunderland

20. Chesterfield

21. Ossett

22. Formby

23. Upton

24. Liverpool

25. Chesterton

26. Tunbridge Wells

27. Worthing

28. Bath

29. Oxford

30. Dorchester