Lidl seeks 60 new sites each year

The discount supermarket unveiled plans for a store in Belle Vale, Liverpool, as it kicked off a campaign to acquire sites for future development across the region and beyond.

Lidl hopes to acquire 60 new sites per year in town, district, edge of centre or out-of-town locations across the UK, it said in an advertising campaign published in property trade media.

The Belle Vale plans, which have yet to be submitted to Liverpool City Council, would see the redevelopment of the site of the former Coronation pub on Childwall Valley Road, and the adjacent derelict former Childwall Brook Care Home.

The new Lidl store would have a 13,000 sq ft sales area as well as an in-store bakery, customer toilets and 118 car parking spaces, with electric vehicle charging points.

The public are invited to comment on the proposals in a public consultation launched last week. The company is opening another store in the Liverpool area, in Toxteth, later this year.

Stuart Jardine, Lidl’s regional head of property, said: “We are very excited about the prospect of opening a Lidl in Belle Vale…and are launching a virtual public consultation to give everyone an opportunity to review our plans.”

Lidl had plans to invest £1.45bn in expanding its portfolio in the UK in 2019 and 2020.

Its latest acquisition drive will see the company seek to acquire new sites to help accommodate its planned expansion, with its main criteria for investment including freehold, leasehold of long leasehold opportunities to build supermarket units ranging in size from 14,000  sq ft to 26,500 sq ft.

The sites would ideally have “main road frontage with easy access and strong pedestrian or traffic flow”, according to the advertisement in trade media.

In London and other metropolitan areas, Lidl is seeking smaller units, of 7,000 sq ft or upwards, it said.

Last week, Lidl submitted scaled-back plans for a store off New Chester Road and Caldbeck Road in Bromborough, Wirral, after two previous submissions were refused by the local council.

The latest proposal sees the store reduced in size to 20,000 sq ft with a sales area of 13,400 sq ft, 10% smaller than the previous application rejected last year.

Earlier this year, Salford City Council selected Lidl as its preferred retail partner to anchor a scheme to regenerate Mocha Parade at Lower Broughton.