400 jobs created as Aldi plans warehouse

Discount supermarket Aldi is building a new distribution hub in the uK, securing 400 jobs.

the grocer has submitted plans to build a new 21 acres facility in Bedford – the equivalent size of 20 football pitches.

the new site will be its 12th distribution centre in the uK and will predominantly be used to serve its growing customer base across the south east of England.

Aldi has been expanding at a rapid pace in the uK and last year committed £450m to opening new stores and improving its new uK and ireland distribution centres.

it now plans to open a further 70 new shops across the uK next year, more than one store every week, creating 4,000 jobs.

By 2022 the company plans to have more than 1,000 stores in the uK – securing 205,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Last month Aldi revealed sales in the uK and ireland had jumped 13.5pc to £8.7bn in 2016 after it managed to entice more than one million new customers to its stores.

Profits however tumbled by nearly a fifth due to the firm’s ongoing investment drive. TWO Scottish distilleries are to be brought back to life after Diageo pledged to invest £35m in them.

Brora and Port Ellen, which are known for producing some of the most highly sought after Scotch whiskies, are expected to be reopened by 2020 after they were closed in 1983.

The distilleries are among Diageo’s smallest and will make around 800,000 litres of alcohol per year.

Cask filling and traditional warehousing will be included on both sites which will also have dedicated visitor centres. Diageo’s decision is in part a response to calls from whisky fans who have campaigned for years to reopen the ‘lost’ distilleries which have earned cult status.

The firm said it also reflects strong growth in the single malt whisky market and is an opportunity to create new generations of whisky lovers. Diageo’s head of whisky outreach, Dr Nick Morgan, said the chance to bring them back to life ‘is as rare and special as the spirit for which the distilleries are famous.’