SUPERMARKET giant Aldi is set to invest more than £550million in expanding and further improving its store and distribution network during 2024.

The budget-friendly supermarket recently committed to opening 500 more stores across the nation, and creating 5,500 new roles this year, as it revealed the multi-million pound investment last month.

This includes plans to open stores in new locations up and down the country, as well as upgrading its existing stores and distribution centres to support growth.  

New stores set to open this year will create more than 1,500 new jobs across the country, with further job opportunities in its current stores, as it is hiring more than 215 new employees across Essex.

Aldi is on the lookout for freehold town-centre or edge-of-town sites which are around 1.5 acres and can accommodate a 20,000sq foot store with around 100 parking spaces.

Ideally, each location will be near a main road with good visibility and access.

While they haven't disclosed the locations they are searching for sites in this time around, the supermarket revealed last year that it aims to open branches in Brentwood, Rayleigh, Southend and Basildon in the near future.

Southend as a borough has one Aldi store in Westcliff and another near to Priory Park, while Basildon has just one in Pitsea, and Brentwood and Rayleigh have none.

Giles Hurley, CEO of Aldi UK and Ireland, recently said: “We’re continuing to welcome more and more new customers through our doors – with people coming for our low prices but staying for our award-winning quality and British sourcing.

“However, there are still areas of the country that don’t have an Aldi, or that need more or larger stores to meet demand. That is what our 2024 expansion plans aim to address. We now have more than 1,000 stores across the UK but there are plenty more Aldi stores still to come, in 2024 and beyond.”