Aldi is pressing ahead with a major expansion across the UK, with fresh planning applications signalling how the discounter intends to turn its longer-term growth ambitions into new shops on the ground. The supermarket has already said it plans to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on stores and distribution, with recent reporting suggesting that the investment will support dozens of new openings, further upgrades to the existing network and thousands of jobs. More recent figures indicate the group is stepping up that push again, with a larger programme aimed at accelerating its march towards a nationwide estate of 1,500 sites.

One of the latest proposals is for a store and drive-thru coffee shop at The Bike School on London Road in Devizes, Wiltshire. Local councillors have backed the scheme, describing it as a useful addition for residents. The plans include solar panels and electric vehicle chargers, and town councillors have also suggested that rainwater harvesting should be considered for the environmental gains it could bring. Aldi says the development would create around 40 local jobs, while the final call rests with Wiltshire Council.

The chain is also making progress elsewhere. In Andover, Hampshire, the Northern Area Planning Committee has approved the demolition of the former Office Depot site on Greenwich Way to make way for an Aldi store, after the application drew more than 100 public comments, many of them supportive. Elsewhere, proposals have been lodged for a store at Innsworth Park District Centre in Gloucestershire, and for another in Plymstock, where a new community of 1,684 homes is being built. In Plymstock, the company says the scheme would involve about 40 jobs and would include parking, electric charging points and landscaping.

The latest activity comes as Aldi continues to lean on its reputation as one of the UK's cheapest supermarket options, a position it has held in numerous weekly pricing comparisons over the years. The retailer already operates more than 1,000 stores in Britain, but its recent investment plans show it is still a long way from standing still. As the company broadens its footprint, it is pairing physical expansion with upgrades to its logistics network, suggesting that its next phase of growth is being built as much on infrastructure as on new shopfronts.