'Jobs will go' if Aldi store is built in Newport

Aldi wants to open a new discount food store at the old Focus DIY site in Audley Avenue, next to where a Morrisons supermarket has already been granted permission.

But Co-op and B&M claim Aldi, coupled with Morrisons, could affect trade to such a degree they might have to consider whether or not they can stay open in Newport's High Street.

In its application, Aldi suggests £0.15million of its business would be taken from town centre sources, including Waitrose, the Co-op and B&M.

But Mark Saunders of NJL Consulting, on behalf of Co-op, said this estimate was "incredulous".

He said: "Aldi are aggressively targeting the market share of all other retailers and are moving away from what was considered its business model upon inception into the UK retail market in 1990 as a hard discounter."

Mr Saunders said the Co-op in Newport could lose more than 14 per cent of its turnover when Morrisons is built – and the situation would be made worse by a new Aldi as well.

He added: "At a 14 per cent impact on the turnover levels, the store would no longer provide a contribution to the business and instead to keep the store open and trading would cost the Co-operative Group £32,000 per annum. As an operational asset, trading from that store is therefore not profitable and hence unviable."

B&M Stores opened in Newport in 2009, replacing the former Woolworth store.

Andrew Wells, estates manager at the firm, said the Aldi would have a "substantial impact" on the business. He said: "The inevitable draw of customers will force us to adapt the range of products we sell from the Newport store. If the impact was particularly adverse we would have to carefully consider our representation."

But Jones Lang LaSalle, for Aldi, said the new store would take the bulk of its turnover from a new Morrisons in Audley Avenue and Telford stores.

Associate director Joanna Gabrilatsou said the goods on offer at Aldi would be different from those available from Co-op or B&M.

She said: "Of course there will be some impact from the proposed Aldi store, however it is not envisaged to be as high as suggested."

The Co-op and B&M previously objected to the Morrisons supermarket, which has been passed by a planning inspector and has survived two appeals through the courts.

Telford & Wrekin Council has not yet run the rule over the Aldi plans.

Elsewhere, there are plans for a Sainsbury's in Station Road and a Lidl at Mere Park Garden Centre.

Meanwhile, Lidl has reiterated its intent to open a store in Newport by applying for permission to erect large advertising signs at the site.

The German discount giant wants to open a supermarket at Mere Park Garden Centre, off Stafford Road.

It submitted its planning application to Telford & Wrekin Council in November, but it is yet to be considered by the local authority.

Now Lidl has made another application for three illuminated signs at the site.

Clare Norman, a spokeswoman for Lidl, said: "We are continuing to consult with Telford & Wrekin Council and await their determination of our planning application."

Aldi has also expressed its desire to open in Newport, at the former Focus DIY building in Audley Avenue.

Council planning chiefs are expected to consider both bids at the same time on a date yet to be arranged. But Lidl has said that it intends to open in Newport. regardless of whether planning permission is granted.

Last year a leading judge ruled that the existing garden centre building at the Mere Park site had permission to sell anything, including food, without further planning consent. Lidl says that if its bid to construct a new building nearby fails, it will convert that building into a discount store instead.