Lidl is looking to open two new stores in Swindon as well as one in Royal Wootton Bassett.

And the budget supermarket giant is willing to pay a finder's fee of up to £22,500 to anyone who successfully suggests a suitable site.

The supermarket chain aims to double its portfolio by opening 1,100 new stores across Great Britain by the end of 2025. The company says it is is looking for "great quality locations...to help continue us our phenomenal growth".

On its list, the retailer hopes to expand to south Swindon and west Swindon as well as Royal Wootton Bassett.

Lidl has already opened 23 new stores this year including Warwick and Hounslow.

Anyone who identifies a site that the company ends up choosing and are not already aware of will receive a fee of either 1.5% of a freehold price or 10% of the first year's rent for leasehold sites.

This means Lidl would offer a finder's fee of £22,500 for a £1.5m site.   

Lidl's chief development officer Richard Taylor said: "We’re opening an average of one new store a week, which is incredible, and our teams have done a phenomenal job of keeping that pace going over the last couple of years.

"But there are still communities up and down the country that are telling us how much they want – and need - a Lidl store.

"We work with some of the best people in the industry to identify new sites, but we also know how engaged our future and existing customers are and we want to build on this.

"Our finder’s fees are, therefore, available to absolutely anyone that can identify a viable option for a new store that we’re not already aware of, and we welcome any suitable suggestions that will help up us to meet our ambitious target of 1,100 stores by the end of 2025.”

The list of requirements for new sites include: 

  • Town centre or edge of centre and retail parks
  • Ideally main road frontage with easy access and strong pedestrian or traffic flow 
  • Freehold, leasehold or long leasehold opportunities 
  • Unit sizes between 18,000 and 26,500 sq ft and 100+ dedicated car parking spaces
  • 1.5+ acres for standalone stores or up to 4 acres for mixed-use schemes

Swindon already has four Lidl stores on Bright Street, Barnfield Road, Thamesdown Drive and at Greenbridge Retail Park