Aldi is urging for speedy reforms in planning approvals to facilitate their expansion plans across the UK.
- Aldi’s national real estate director, George Brown, highlights significant delays in obtaining planning permissions due to under-resourced local authorities.
- The retail giant is willing to invest in expediting the planning process to overcome bureaucratic hindrances.
- As Aldi aims to open more stores, it faces challenges from competitors and planning objections which slow down expansion.
- Aldi’s discussions with political figures reflect broader concerns in the retail sector over the current planning system.
Aldi is actively engaging with political figures to address delays in planning approvals, which they argue impede their ambitious expansion plans. George Brown, Aldi’s national real estate director, met a top adviser to the Prime Minister to advocate for reforms that align with the government’s economic growth agenda. He expressed concerns on LinkedIn, stating that securing planning consent for new Aldi locations often exceeds a year due to inadequately resourced local authorities. Moreover, Brown suggested that Aldi would be willing to invest in the application process to speed up approvals, underscoring the necessity for streamlined decision-making for retail projects.
Brown emphasized a bias among planning authorities favoring warehouse and industrial estate developments, which he claimed generate fewer local jobs compared to supermarket openings. He stated, “To unlock significant investment in the UK economy, this needs to change.” Despite a goal to reach 1,200 UK stores by 2025, Aldi is falling behind schedule with just over 1,020 locations, attributing delays to planning red tape, building material shortages, and competitor objections, which have adversely affected sales growth.
In the wake of these developments, discussions with political figures like Starmer’s adviser are taking place amidst broader governmental efforts to prioritize construction projects. Sir Keir Starmer has recently promised to accelerate the planning process to facilitate quicker development of homes and commercial properties.
Aldi’s calls for planning reforms echo a broader sentiment of dissatisfaction within the retail sector regarding the current planning process. Competitors like Waitrose, Lidl, and Iceland are similarly pursuing expansion plans and publicly voicing their frustrations over bureaucratic challenges. Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland, described planning delays as a “handbrake on growth,” citing prolonged approval times that prevent store openings.
Walker also accused Aldi and Lidl of using restrictive property deal clauses to block Iceland stores from opening nearby, allegations that both discount chains declined to address. Conversely, Aldi has counter-argued that rival supermarkets increasingly lodge planning objections to slow its own openings, with UK CEO Giles Hurley noting a rise in objections as Aldi maintains a significant price differential compared to traditional supermarkets.
Aldi’s push for planning reforms underlines the urgent need for change within the retail industry’s bureaucratic processes.
