Lidl has confirmed where two new UK stores will open this month. The discount supermarket’s staff will welcome customers through the doors of branches in Brough, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and Burntwood in Staffordshire.

Shoppers in Brough can expect their new Lidl to open on Thursday (January 15) while those in Burntwood won’t have long to wait as their branch opens a week later on January 22. The new branches are among 19 Lidl plans to open over the next eight weeks as part of a nationwide expansion.

Lidl announced on Tuesday that it was also renovating over 70 of its existing outlets to the tune of £43million. Changes as part of the store overhaul include new tills and bigger freezers to offer a wider range of products.

The chain is also launching new energy-saving features, such as chillers which use natural refrigerants and smart lighting systems that reduce electricity use.

Richard Taylor, Chief Real Estate Officer at Lidl GB, hailed the company’s commitment to delivering the best experience for customers and creating a positive impact for communities.

He added: “With this push, we’re set on winning more shoppers across the nation and claiming an even bigger share of the market.”

Market share figures from Worldpanel show Lidl made the greatest gain among the supermarkets over the 12 weeks to December 28. It added 0.5 percentage points to claim 7.8% of the market and saw sales growth of 10%.

In comparison, grocery sales at M&S were 7.2% higher over the 12 weeks compared with the same period a year earlier.

M&S sought to position itself as a challenger to the “big six” supermarkets on Wednesday when it announced an expansion of its value food item range.

It has launched more than 30 new value products this month, including core family items such as 500g and 750g packs of 5% fat beef mince and 1kg bags of frozen sweetcorn.

The retailer said sales of M&S value lines, including “remarksable value”, “dropped & locked” and “bigger pack, better value” items were up 20% in the third quarter of last year while the “remarksable value” range alone had doubled in size since 2023.

M&S, which is known for its high-end own-brand food products, claimed to be the fastest-growing grocer with families, based on till receipts data from analysts Worldpanel.

YouGov figures also suggest a three percentage point uptick over the last two years in families now likely to consider shopping at M&S Food while perceptions of value at M&S among families has improved by 10 percentage points over the same period.

The move from M&S comes amid a flurry of price promises by the major supermarkets as they compete to attract households struggling with rising food inflation amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Food inflation increased to 3.3%, up from November’s 3% and far outstripping wider shop price inflation of 0.7%, according to latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NIQ data.