Lidl Northern Ireland reports 24% rise in sales growth
Lidl Northern Ireland has posted strong full year results for the 2020/2021 trading year, recording turnover of more than £345 million – up almost a quarter on the previous year.
The retailer filed financial results for the period March 2020 to February 2021, hailing its exponential business growth during a period of unprecedented challenges.
J.P. Scally, Chief Executive of Lidl Ireland and Lidl Northern Ireland, said: “Lidl Northern Ireland has delivered an impressive trading performance over the full year period and this substantial year-on-year sales growth is testament to our established business model which continues to deliver for us and for our more than 300,000 weekly customers across the region.
“Despite unprecedented challenges, we’ve held our position as Northern Ireland’s fastest-growing supermarket, achieving 24% sales growth in 2020, and we’re focused now on growing that even further.”
Lidl Northern Ireland credits its growing market share to investing in its local store and supplier network and maintaining a robust supply chain to bring its Big on Quality, Lidl on Price proposition to even more shoppers across the region.
“Our last financial year marked a period of solid investment in delivering on our ambitious growth plans for the region. We opened two new stores in Belfast and Holywood and revitalised a further five stores across the region in line with our modern ‘concept’ store designs which prioritises space and sustainability and offers our growing customer base a more comfortable shopping experience. We’re well placed to deliver on our ambition of 50 stores by the end of this decade,” Mr Scally said.
Last year, Lidl Northern Ireland confirmed a £32 million investment for the Greater Belfast area in opening three new stores at Crumlin Road, Boucher Road and Holywood Exchange as well as revitalising its premises at Castlereagh Road and Shore Road.
Investment
The retailer also announced a further £26 million investment into the North West region including opening a brand-new state-of-the-art store in Buncrana Road in Derry~Londonderry, progressing with plans for an additional nearby store in Crescent Link and Strabane.
Buoyed by a long-established strategy to build a strong local supply chain, Lidl Northern Ireland continues to develop its growing network of more than 50 local suppliers from which it sources almost £300 million worth of goods each year.
“Lidl Northern Ireland is proud of its robust and agile local supply chain. We’ve worked to develop this over two decades and our approach to sourcing locally has helped to shield us from some of the supply issues that other retailers faced over this period. Sourcing such a large volume of our products locally has meant that we haven’t been as reliant on imports. We were pleased to be in a strong position and able to maintain supply of great quality and great tasting, local products over the past 12 months, and look forward to continuing to do so for many years to come”, said Mr Scally.
“We remain committed to supporting local food and drink producers and we plan to continue to invest in the local agri-food industry through our dedicated Kick Start Supplier Development Programme which aims to support small and medium sized producers and open up export opportunities for wider industry growth.”
Lidl Northern Ireland has grown staff numbers to more than 1,000 employees for the first time across its 41-strong store network and Regional Distribution Centre in Nutt’s Corner, Co. Antrim.
Earlier this year, Lidl Northern Ireland was named a Top Employer for 2021 by the Top Employers Federation.
CAPTION: J.P. Scally, Chief Executive of Lidl Ireland and Lidl Northern Ireland and Conor Boyle, Regional Director Lidl Northern Ireland.
