I’ll open 300 more UK stores, says Aldi boss Giles Hurley

Trying to take a photograph of Aldi chief Giles Hurley in one of his shops is proving difficult. It’s not even lunchtime on Monday, but queues are forming fast.

Shoppers unwittingly photobomb the scene while others crowd in to reel off compliments – justifiably assuming that anyone wearing a suit and without a shopping trolley works for the company.

‘Are you the boss?’ one lady asks him, before she declares to the crowd that the £2.99 Christmas cake is ‘better than Marks & Spencer’.

Momentum: Aldi boss Giles Hurley says the back end of the year has been strong with shoppers doing at least some Christmas shopping earlier than usual

Hurley, a self-confessed ‘Aldi lifer’ whose commitment to the cause of discount shopping is intense and unwavering, looks pleased as punch – but not surprised.

Signs are that he’s hitting the final days before Christmas, the most lucrative of the year, on a roll as shoppers gravitate toward Aldi’s keen prices.

In September, the German discounter overtook Morrisons to become the fourth-biggest grocer in Britain by market share.

Spending in its shops is up 25 per cent, industry monitor Kantar says, growing roughly five times faster than its big rivals – Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s.

‘We’ve had momentum throughout the course of this year. But, from September onwards, it has accelerated,’ he observes as he glides through the store evangelising about quality and prices.

He rattles off the growing list of awards and accolades for everything from Wagyu beef – in limited supply but he wants more; his £14.99 Veuve Monsigny Champagne (‘second in popularity to Moet’) to the 24-month matured Christmas pudding (he scans the shelf fruitlessly, before realising it has sold out – ‘That’s the problem when you get good PR on these products they go ‘boom’).

But Aldi’s success is not only in its PR. The UK and Ireland division, which Hurley runs as chief executive, had sales of more than £13billion last year – riding a wave of popularity. ‘Wallets are stretched,’ he says.

Shoppers are doing at least some Christmas shopping earlier than usual to ‘spread the cost’ as energy bills and inflation bite, he says.

The number of shoppers is up by 15-20 per cent on any given week versus last year. Sales of goods that can be stored for longer are spiking even faster. Mince pies are up 34 per cent compared with last year.

Aldi, with its relentless focus on price, seems to have found itself in the right place at the right time.

To Hurley, the answer lies in his mantra: ‘If you come to Aldi, you know, no matter what, you will always getting the lowest price.

‘That is the cornerstone of our business strategy. Prices are the lowest they can be.’

He says prices at ‘full price, traditional supermarkets’ – his swipe at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – are around 15 per cent higher.

Rivals have done everything to resist its growth. Industry magazine The Grocer suggests they’ve even resorted to complaining about its planning applications in an effort to slow its store plans.

Unfortunately for those keen to find opportunities to burst his bubble, independent research is doing much of his work for him. 

Giles  Hurley, 47 

Brink of war: John F Kennedy

Lives: Warwick

Family: Three boys and a girl

Hobbies: At weekends watches his two oldest boys play rugby. In lockdown he bought a Peloton and rowing machine – ‘Brilliant for winter nights when you could have been pounding the streets. I’ve never looked back.’

Books: History buff. Has a degree in it. Recently saw Max Hastings promoting his latest book The Abyss: Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962, when John F Kennedy was confronted by Russia. ‘

Of course there are all sorts of synergies with the threat of nuclear war now, and the way history repeats itself, with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. But ultimately how the world can come to its senses.’

First day at Aldi: June 10, 2000

Career: Taught English in China for a year. Wanted to work with food and joined Aldi at 23. ‘I’ve always had an interest in food so I found a natural home in buying. I love a sales business and interaction with customers.

 

A recent survey by Which? highlights a basket of 48 items for £77.21 in Aldi – closely followed by Lidl – would set you back another £10 at Tesco and Asda; £12 at Sainsbury’s and £16 at Morrisons.

But rivals are beginning to whisper that its prices are rising, forced higher by the rise in staff, energy and ingredients costs. Food inflation is forecast to hit 19pc early next year. Could that undermine Aldi’s credibility with shoppers?

‘Look, the entire retail market has seen inflation, and we’re no exception. What’s important is that our price gap to the full-price, traditional supermarkets is as strong as it’s ever been. 

Our buying teams are working absolutely tirelessly to try to shield our customers from inflation,’ he says.

Hurley went to boarding school in London, then university in his native Ireland before taking on a string of roles. 

After a stint on the McDonald’s graduate scheme, he arrived at Aldi in 2000. He was promoted to run the UK business almost five years ago. Sales are up an estimated £3billion since then.

He describes himself as a late riser – 6.30am, which he says is an hour after most of the senior team. 

He checks emails as soon as he wakes and just before he goes to sleep. He’s adept at ‘compartmentalising’ – his 50-minute journey to work from his home in Warwick offers time to decompress.

Turfing Morrisons out of the top ranks was ‘a milestone moment’, he says. ‘The team were delighted.’ 

But he’s also determined the accolade doesn’t tarnish Aldi’s reputation as a challenger to the status quo. 

‘There’s still a Big Four – big supermarkets, big brands, big prices. I think that’s why customers are choosing to shop with us. We’ll never be part of that club.’

Unlike rivals, Aldi doesn’t have a multitude of store formats. It has been wary of setting up an online food delivery business, many of which, analysts say, lose money.

And it has more limited ranges, where its rivals often carry dozens of varieties of everything from mayonnaise to muesli. 

He says: ‘We are a really simple business. When people ask me what the biggest challenge is, it’s keeping that simplicity. We’re a lean, efficient business. Our competitors value price perception but not necessarily the substance behind it. We are that substance. We do what it says on the tin.’

Aldi has a fledgling click-and-collect business in 200 shops. But, even in a digital age, it concentrates on bricks-and-mortar stores.

It opens, on average, a store a week. He had wanted 1,000 stores this year, but Covid disruption tempered its construction programme. The ambition is ‘agonisingly’ close and will land sometime in April, or shortly after, probably with a new store in Woking.

Growth has not come without pain. Profits faltered in 2021. But the commitment to rapid expansion is unfaltering. Aldi could ‘comfortably’ have another 300 stores. ‘We are single-minded on continuing to expand our business through shops. We are relentless and we are patient.’

It has just 58 stores within the M25 – a vast opportunity, which includes Greater London with its 9m population.

Market share has hit 15 per cent in parts of the North – the Wirral and Lancashire – compared to an average of 9.3 per cent nationally and just 4 per cent in the South West.

‘We are single-minded on continuing to expand through our shops. It’s definitely harder to get into those areas and we will continue to open stores in the South.

‘Of course we’d like it to be quicker but we’ll get there. We are relentless and we are patient.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk