Aldi is in talks with the government over planning reform in a bid to speed up its new store openings.
The discounter is offering investment to tackle “under-resourcing” across local authorities, which is currently leading the planning application process to take more than a year, The Grocer reported.
Aldi UK’s national real estate director George Brown said he had visited No 10 last week in a LinkedIn post.
The executive said: “It was a pleasure to be invited to No 10 today to discuss planning reform with Nick Williams, senior special advisor to the PM.
“Obtaining planning consent for new Aldi schemes can take us over 12 months due to under-resourcing in local authorities. We will happily invest in the application process to help speed that up.”
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He continued: “A new Aldi store is also a significant job creator in local communities, delivering the some of the top salary levels in retail in addition to #everydayamazing benefits and great opportunities for career progression.
“Yet unlike some traditional employment occupiers (such as B2 and B8) which may have far lower job density, retail is not given the same weighting in the decision making process. To unlock significant investment in the UK economy this needs to change.”
The move comes after the government rolled out a consultation in July over proposed changes to planning policy, which included increasing planning application fees to improve local authority resourcing.
In July, the German discounter unveiled plans to open an average of one new store a week between then and Christmas.
It explained it was set to create 1,000 jobs in new stores across the UK between then and the end of the year, with roles available including managerial positions, caretakers and cleaners, and store apprentices.
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