Lidl warns shoppers face 'price rises' in backlash over new policy

Lidl has warned over price rises amid a backlash over the Labour Party Budget. Ryan McDonnell, the boss of the German-owned discount grocer Lidl ’s UK arm, said the supermarket was also trading well in the run-up to Christmas.

But he warned that “inevitably there has to be some level of inflation on products” as the result of the NIC and minimum wage increases. Lidl’s UK business has bounced back into profit after it slowed expansion in favour of improving existing stores, spurring a jump in sales to almost £11bn.

McDonnell said: “Now, 60% of households are choosing to shop at Lidl, and they’re coming back more frequently, which is a fantastic sign of increasing loyalty. We have great momentum and, although our ambitions have no ceiling, we won’t rest on our laurels.”

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McDonnell also said that men were buying more from its middle aisle of unusual, limited-time stock, from toys to thermal underwear. “We often get partners at odds with each other because men have disappeared up the aisle and are buying things they maybe already have,” he told the BBC.

McDonnell said the middle of Lidl, known for its unusual stock which ranges from power tools to inflatables, had a “big male following”. "We often get partners at odds with each other because men have disappeared up the aisle and are buying things they maybe already have," he told the BBC.

Lidl saw a 16.9% jump in annual sales for the year to the end of February 2024 with sales of nearly £11bn.“I remember selling pallets of more continental products. We’ve come a long way, evolving our ranges," he said. The supermarket now has more than 960 shops and is the nation's sixth biggest grocer.

"There are some interesting shopping habits in this aisle," he said, adding he had known rows between couples after a man had become "intrigued by a gadget or two".