Lidl 'Delighted' to Be Opening in West 12 Centre in New Year

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40 local jobs in the offing as refitting of ground floor space gets underway

Budget supermarket Lidl has begun refitting the space on the ground floor of the West 12 shopping centre formerly occupied by Morrisons, in preparation for opening early in 2018.

The launch will bring a welcome 40 new jobs to the area.

As we first revealed in July, Lidl indicated its intentions to take over the site, units 1-2 vacated by Morrisons last November, by applying to H&F Council for a premises licence.

A month later the council showed its approval, saying Lidl was "poised to announce it will the anchor retailer in the shopping centre" and adding that the anticipated announcement had been welcomed by other retailers in the centre as well as residents.

Now the German supermarket chain has officially announced it will be moving in, with Shane O’Farrell, regional head of property at Lidl UK, saying: “We are delighted to be opening a new store in Shepherd’s Bush, which marks another milestone in our ambitious store expansion programme.

"We’ve seen incredible demand for Lidl stores across the country and look forward to offering our quality products and incredible value to shoppers in the near future."

The news follows the company's announcement in May that it was hunting for suitable sites across London.

At the time, regional property director Richard Taylor said: “We have extremely ambitious plans for our London expansion and aim to open as many stores as possible each year."

Lidl's opening will be a major boost for the centre and create dozens of new jobs, after 170 people lost their jobs through the closure of Morrisons.

It will be also be welcomed by local shoppers, who were disappointed when Morrisons closed the store, saying it was no longer viable - though there will be some disappointment for people, incuding some on our forum, who were hoping it would be open for Christmas.

You can join the discussion on the new store on our Shepherd's Bush forum.

September 29, 2017