South West Bedfordshire MP, Andrew Selous and Minister Bim Afolami, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, visited the Lidl Regional Distribution Centre in Houghton Regis today. It is the largest Lidl warehouse in the world, the size of 33 football pitches and can hold 70,000 pallets. Lidl are actively recruiting at the moment as they build up to a full staff of 1,500 employees.
Lidl buy all of their chicken, pork, dairy, beef and eggs in the United Kingdom, and spend £4 billion a year with UK farmers and food producers. They are investing £40 million in UK egg production. It is also a very green facility with the solar panels on the roof creating 2m Kwh of energy every year and with their HGVs being powered by compressed natural gas.
Speaking afterwards Andrew said,
"Lidl have a brilliant record of promoting from within, and I met members of staff who had started at the bottom and then enjoyed a series of promotions to more senior roles. I was impressed that it is possible to work a 9am to 2pm shift which could be very helpful to parents dropping off and picking up children from school. Lidl have played a big part in helping people deal with cost-of-living pressures and I'm extremely grateful to them for providing these jobs locally to provide the food for 150 Lidl stores around the country."