Exeter Lidl depot to create 500 jobs

Britain’s fastest growing supermarket, Lidl UK, has revealed plans to open its 12th Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) in East Devon, following the submission of a planning application to build the 50,000 m² warehouse on a site at Clyst Honiton.

The submission of the application follows the purchase of the site in February of this year, and will pave the way for up to 500 new jobs for the area.

This latest move is a clear indication of Lidl’s expansion ambitions, which include plans to double the number of its existing stores, to cater for its ever growing customer base. Sales at the retailer show no signs of slowing, after experiencing its seventh consecutive period as the UKs fastest growing supermarket.

Should permission be granted by East Devon District Council by the end of June, the supermarket would look to start work on site shortly after, with a view to having the warehouse ready to start operating by September 2017.

Features of the planned warehouse include state of the art low energy design, including maximising solar gain to reduce light energy consumption, high performance building fabric, low energy lighting design and a high efficiency heating plan running a Refrigeration Waste Heat Recovery System. 

The supermarket currently has nine RDCs across the country, servicing Lidl’s 630 stores in England, Scotland and Wales. This RDC will become its 12th warehouse, following previous announcements to open RDCs in both Southampton and Wednesbury, and will support stores in the South West of the UK.

Lidl UK Head of Warehouse Expansion, Adrienne Howells, commented: “It’s incredibly encouraging that our sales growth is consistently outperforming the market, but this requires a solid infrastructure that enables us to cope with growing customer demand.

“A new regional distribution centre in East Devon will help to alleviate pressure on our other warehouses which are currently servicing the region, and will support new stores that we hope to open across the South West in the coming years.

“We are of course delighted that this will lead to considerable investment and job creation in the area, and very much hope that the outcome of the application is positive.”

The public can view the planning application by visiting  www.eastdevon.gov.uk/planning and entering the reference 16/0693/MRES.