Lidl is set to take its capital investment in its Irish operations beyond the €2 billion mark, with a new €550 million programme to build 20 new stores and redevelop a further 24.
The German discount chain has 169 stores here and employs more than 5,000 people. It says it will expand its store portfolio over the next three years, alongside the two dozen planned rebuilds of stores within its existing estate.
Lidl said it had already invested €1.5 billion in the Irish market since its entry in 2000, separate to a €210 million capital outlay in 2019. That included €100 million it spent that year on a new distribution hub in Newbridge, Kildare.
Lidl has also released a report that it commissioned with details of its contribution to the economy in the Republic.
The Dublin-based Lidl head office management team also oversees its operation in the North.
Workers
In the Republic, the report estimated Lidl’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) at €692 million in 2019, when it employed 4,500 people. The company said it also spends €667 million annually procuring goods and services from Irish suppliers.
About 13 per cent of its staff are aged 16-24, which it says is four percentage points more than the average of the labour force.
JP Scally, the chief executive of Lidl in the Republic and the North, insisted its investment programme is “about more than bricks and mortar” and highlighted its trading relationships with 260 Irish suppliers.
Speaking at the launch of the company’s economic report, the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said grocery workers such as Lidl staff had “gone above and beyond” during the pandemic and he welcomed its €550 million investment plan.
