Retailer Aldi is set to hit record sales of €2.46bn at its UK and Ireland operations this year, as the slowing global economic climate continues to drive hard-up customers towards discount outlets.
Yearly sales growth is up 26 per cent in 2008 so far, pointing to an improvement on the group's full-year sales ended 31 December 2007, which totalled €1.8bn.
'You need sometimes a little jolt to try something new and the squeeze on consumer's finances have been an incentive to, at the very least, give us a try, and that is what I am putting down to the last two to three months' (sales) trend,' Paul Foley, managing director of Aldi UK and Ireland, told Planet Retail.
Mr Foley said that while he expected this year's profits to be 'robust' and at 'similar cash levels', he did not think that there would be would as dramatic an increase as group sales due to investment in new stores, communications and advertising.
