Lidl opens £300m ‘largest in the world’ warehouse creating 1,500 jobs

The new warehouse is set to service 150 Lidl stores across Great Britain and create up to 1,500 jobs, which is triple that of other Lidl warehouses in the region.

Lidl said in a statement that the 1.2 million sq ft warehouse was its “largest construction project to date” and marks its commitment to expanding across Britain.

The value grocer also said it will be the first of its warehouses to feature automation, which will contribute to storing more goods and increasing capacity.

Lidl opened more than 50 new stores last year, which was more than any other supermarket in Britain, as well as an additional 19 store openings at the start of 2023.

The warehouse has been designed with “sustainability at the forefront” and will operate solely on solar power at certain points during the year. This comes as part of Lidl’s goal to have 100% of its fleet diesel-free by 2030.

Staff at the new warehouse will benefit from Lidl’s latest pay increase for staff, which saw rates for workers outside the M25 to increase from £11 to £11.40.

Lidl chief development officer Richard Taylor said: “The opening of this new RDC in Luton is a seminal moment for Lidl GB. Demand for Lidl has never been higher and we are seeing an increasing number of people walk through our doors to make savings on every shop.

“The fact that Lidl’s largest RDC in the world is here in Great Britain speaks for itself not only in terms of us needing to meet the growing demand from customers, but also in terms of our ambition to grow that demand in the future.

“It is a spectacular state-of-the-art site that our team has worked incredibly hard on to get to where we are today. It has the capacity to service 150 stores, which is nearly triple the amount of some of our existing warehouses, demonstrating the true scale of our ambition and growth potential.”