Lidl is ploughing “several million pounds” into expanding and refurbishing its stores in Grimsby and Barton on Humber as part of its store expansion programme taking place across the country.

These are the latest stores for Lidl to start renovating, as the discounter seeks to make revamps across its estate.

Lidl will be demolishing three residential properties in Grimsby to make way for the extension. They will deck out the 12,000 sq ft Barton store with new glazing, heightened ceilings, and new flooring and will change the store layout. The discounter will also resurface the car park and provide new kerbing.

At Grimsby, the discounter will boost the store size by 4,500 sq ft to 18,000 sq ft. This is to create space for a new freezer area, additional warehouse facilities and a new bakery space. The store is also gaining a new loading dock and additional parking space.

The intensive works kicked-off at both stores after they closed on New Year’s Eve. The Grimsby store will open in five week’s time, the Barton store by late February.

Lidl hired contractors Britcon to carry out the refurbishment, following Britcon’s completion of recent store extension projects in Coventry and Leicester- and the contractor says further Lidl projects are in the pipeline. “We are pleased to secure further contracts with Lidl,” said Britcon managing director Paul Clarkson. “It is testament to our expertise in the food retail sector and demonstrates trust in our capabilities to deliver full design and build services for Lidl during its store refurbishment programme.”

This announcement comes the same week that Lidl revealed it has planning permission to build a larger fresh bakery and preparation area at their Madford Retail Park store in Carlisle.

“Our bakeries are part of our Super Fresh strategy, with the full category accounting for a large proportion of our annual turnover,” said a Lidl spokesperson. “The bakeries play a big role in this and we have received an overwhelmingly positive response from customers since rolling them out nationwide. Due to increased popularity we have seen the need to extend the area in some stores.”

Lidl’s latest store expansions follow the discounter’s most successful Christmas on record, with year-on-year sales rising by more than 20%.

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