Budget chain Aldi to open near Rustington

Budget supermarket chain Aldi has been revealed as the latest retailer to come to the area.

The firm has earmarked land at the new Manor Retail Park development, off Mill Lane, as the site for its latest store.

The move was revealed by landowner Store Property Investment Ltd, which owns the eastern side of the retail site – which will include the new Chandlers BMW base.

Sarah Wickens, director of Store Property, said the move was an exciting development for the surrounding villages of Rustington and Angmering.

She said: “Aldi has been looking to get in the area for quite some time.

“Obviously Lidl are in Littlehampton, so they didn’t want to go there.

“But the Mill Lane site is perfect, it’s just far enough away that it wouldn’t be competing with Lidl.”

Sarah added: “I think Rustington’s future is looking great.

“I think Waitrose has been very well received and it seems to be doing really well. Rustington seems to be a really popular place.”

The news has come months after the German-headquartered food retailer announced it was ‘actively seeking’ a new base in Worthing and Littlehampton, among others areas in the county.

The areas were all listed on Aldi’s corporate website, in December.

Arun District Council’s chairman and Angmering councillor, Andy Cooper said the move could be a positive one for the area but stressed he was still concerned about potential over-development along the A259.

“It’s a hard one,” said councillor Cooper. “I think we need to be mindful that we don’t end up with a Purley Way. That’s always been my concern and I won’t shy away from that.

“We need to be mindful of the impact it could have.

“Anything that we have on the periphery of our villages and towns needs to be adding something and has to be right for the area.”

That being said, Mr Cooper felt that it would be a ‘coups’ for the area if Aldi were to be given permission to build a new store on the site.

He added: “I think (the proposal) will be well received by local people.

“It’s a site we have heard a lot about.

“We know that Aldi has been looking for some time for a new base in the area.

“I think it would be quite a coups if it comes to this area.”

The land has previously been given outline consent from Arun for a food store and non-food units.

The Gazette has approached Aldi for a comment this week – and to ask how many jobs could be on the cards – but Aldi was unable to provide a response before the paper went to press, yesterday morning.

However, earlier this month the firm did unveil a £600million expansion plan which includes hiring 8,000 more staff and opening more than a hundred new stores across the UK.

The company is aiming to increase its UK workforce to 35,000, as well as open 130 new stores

Aldi has boomed in recent years, and in April it overtook Waitrose as the UK’s sixth-biggest shop.