Aldi plan to open new store in Formby as part of £800m expansion plan

Aldi has announced plans to open a new multi-million pound store in Formby as it bids to become the first budget supermarket chain to set up shop in the affluent Merseyside village.

The company has listed Formby as one of 20 top-priority locations for its £800m investment programme to 'accelerate expansion across Britain' in 2024 and beyond.

In May 2023, Aldi submitted a planning application to build a new £5m store on a derelict brownfield site off Formby Bypass. The supermarket giant is still eager to get a foothold in the village and is on the hunt for 'town-centre, edge-of-centre, and retail park sites suitable for property development' in all its priority locations.

Formby is home to Premier League footballers and Merseyside’s only Waitrose store. Tesco is the only other supermarket serving the 24,000 population in the coastal enclave, which only got its first McDonald’s in 2019.

But the town is expanding, with Sefton Council approving plans to build more than a thousand new houses over the past three years. A number of developments are currently springing up on the outskirts, most notably the Pinewoods Park development on the southern edge.

Aldi, which currently has over 1,000 stores, has previously announced plans to scale to 1,500 stores across the UK - meaning it is on the hunt for more locations across the UK.

Priority locations where Aldi is searching for sites include:

• Woodford, London
• Surbiton, London
• Bromley, London
• Barnet, London
• Redhill, Surrey
• Aldershot, Hampshire
• Haywards Heath, West Sussex
• Chatham, Kent
• Chorlton, Manchester
• Formby, Liverpool
• Newark, Nottinghamshire
• Chesterfield, Derbyshire
• Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
• Brentwood, Essex
• Dorchester, Dorset
• Clarkston, Scotland
• Cathcart, Scotland
• Penzance, Cornwall
• Warwick, Warwickshire
• Bath, Somerset

Richard Thornton, Communications Director at Aldi UK, said: “We are committed to bringing high quality, affordable groceries to millions more British families. With more than 1,000 stores across the country, our footprint is definitely growing, but we know there are still a number of towns that either don’t have an Aldi or have shown demand for more stores.”

The sites should be able to accommodate a 20,000 sq foot store with around 100 parking spaces. Ideally the location will be near a main road with good visibility and access.