German discount grocer Aldi is set to spend £40m ($54m) on eight new stores in London this year as it continues to widen its UK footprint.

According to the press statement, the expansion is expected to create hundreds of jobs and improve access to lower-cost grocery options in areas currently underserved by discount retailers.

Aldi UK national real estate managing director Jonathan Neale said: “We know household budgets are still under pressure, and too many Londoners do not have an Aldi within easy reach. These new stores will bring our unbeatable value to more families while creating around 200 new jobs across the capital.”

Alongside the new openings, Aldi said its Enfield and Kilburn stores are due to undergo refurbishment this year.

The London openings are part of a wider UK investment plan under which the retailer intends to spend more than £370m on approximately 40 new stores across the country this year.

That programme follows last year’s announcement of a £1.6bn investment over two years, supporting Aldi’s longer-term ambition to grow its UK estate to 1,500 stores.

Outside the UK, Aldi said earlier this year that it plans to open more than 180 additional stores in the US by the end of 2026 as part of a five-year expansion strategy.

The US rollout is due to span 31 states and would take Aldi’s store estate there to almost 2,800 by year-end.