15 new jobs as Lidl set to open store in Newcastle

15 new jobs as Lidl set to open store in Newcastle

7 May 2025

LIDL’S new £6m store in Newcastle opens next month.

The new retail outlet – which has been constructed at the site of a former primary school – will create an additional 15 jobs when staff relocate from their current base at Railway Street which is currently for sale.

Construction on what is being billed as a new concept store is nearing completion and is part of a  £150m investment plan by Lidl to upgrade and expand its store network across Northern Ireland.

The news store, which is located at the junction of Shanslieve Drive and Bryansford Road, opens on June 19.

Occupying a site of 12,236 square metres, with sales floor space of 1,338 square metres, the site will also provide the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team the space it needs to develop a purpose-built base and education centre to continue its key lifesaving service in the Mourne region.

Developed with sustainability at the fore, the new Lidl store will incorporate energy efficient features, including LED lighting, heat pumps and PV solar panels to help reduce carbon emissions and supporting Lidl’s ambition to achieving net-zero by 2050.

And the new store will have the retailer’s first ‘living roof’ – designed to blend seamlessly with the store’s back set within the Mourne Mountains Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Enhanced parking for 147 vehicles as well as two electric vehicle charging points also feature in the build, reflecting Lidl’s commitment to sustainability and an enhanced customer shopping experience.

Developed to meet increasing customer demand, the £6.3m investment will take the total number of employees at the Newcastle store to 37.

The six million pound investment also saw over 200 jobs created as part of the planning and construction process.

Paralympic Gold medallist Bethany Firth will cut the ribbon at the grand opening in June.

Gordon Cruikshanks, Lidl Northern Ireland’s regional managing director, said the retailer had been serving the Newcastle community for the past 25 years.

“Our project to develop this brand-new store for the local area has been in planning for the last nine years,” he said. “Newcastle is a thriving community and bustling seaside town attracting visitors from across the island of Ireland.

“With growing customer numbers in the area and more shoppers choosing to ‘Go Full Lidl’, we had long outgrown our original store so it’s fantastic to now confirm a June opening for the new store.”

The company says it is looking forward to completing construction of the site to enable the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team to construct an upgraded new base.