Lidl takes former Sainsbury DC in Exeter

Lidl is to take the 500,000 sq ft warehouse site at Exeter abandoned two years ago by rival Sainsbury.

The value grocery chain confirmed the move – rumoured last August – in a statement to the BBC.

Sainsbury called a surprise halt to its plans for the Exeter Gateway intermodal site in 2013. By summer 2014 the plans were formally abandoned and it was announced that the Clyst Honiton site would be sold.

Lidl and fellow German grocer Aldi are now responsible for all but a fraction of the UK’s once-booming supermarket logistics scene.

Data from Barbour ABI shows that in 2015 Aldi’s 645,000 sq ft takeup, and Lidl’s 237,000 sq ft, dwarfed requirements from Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons, Asda and the Co-Op.