Aldi Team GB truck

Aldi has opened its largest UK distribution centre today - a £50m purpose-built facility in Bolton.

The 611,250 sq ft site will serve Aldi’s stores in the North West and replaces a smaller facility in Middleton, Greater Manchester.

More than 550 employees will relocate to the new distribution centre and up to 100 new logistics roles will be created at the site during the next few months.

Bolton is one of eight regional distribution centres located across the UK serving Aldi’s store network. The retailer is also investing £60m to build a new distribution centre in Cardiff, which is due to open next year.

The Bolton site is also home to Aldi’s Academy - a national centre for staff training and recruitment. The facility, which employs 15 full-time training specialists, oversees the training and development of all store staff, apprentices, graduates and Aldi area managers.

“To keep pace with consumer demand we plan to open more than 80 new stores this year. This is the most stores we have ever opened in a single year and many will be in parts of the UK that currently don’t have an Aldi,” said joint MD, buying Jonathan Neale.

“To support the largest store expansion programme in the sector, we continue to invest in our people and distribution infrastructure. We are confident that the additional capacity we are adding to the business this year will significantly boost sales and introduce hundreds of thousands of new consumers to the Aldi brand.”