Tesco, Lidl and Aldi are among the supermarkets opening new stores across the UK throughout the year. A number of UK retailers have announced ambitious expansion plans. Marks and Spencer, for example, has revealed 500 areas where it plans to open new stores over the next few years in a bid to expand its M&S Food reach. Meanwhile, Tesco recently purchased old Amazon Fresh sites, with the goal of converting them into Tesco Express stores. 

Aldi, Lidl and Co-op have also announced plans to open more stores across the UK, as supermarkets aim to reach more customers in areas where they don’t currently have a presence. According to industry experts, supermarkets will be ramping up their own-label offering as customers become more cost-conscious, and supermarkets appear to be vying for brand loyalty in this arena by targeting even more shoppers right across Britain. 

Here are all of the confirmed supermarket openings for 2026.

Nick Johnson, Tesco group property director, said that the chain, as one of the UK’s leading supermarkets, is “excited” to be present in more communities. “We are hugely excited about the year ahead and looking forward to meeting our customers where they are with great quality, exceptional value and brilliant customer service.”

While only a few M&S locations have been confirmed, hundreds could open over the next few years. Alex Freudmann, managing director at M&S Food, said: “The strong performance of our new M&S food stores gives us the confidence to explore even more locations across the UK, from Elgin to Exmouth.

“With more than twenty stores opening or modernised before the end of the financial year, we are moving faster. Our team want new sites where we could open a large M&S Food store as we deliver on our strategy to bring the right stores to the right places and offer the best shopping experience, range and availability for our customers.”

Similarly, only a few new Aldi locations have been confirmed, but the German bargain supermarket giant aims to open 40 new stores across the UK in the near future. 

This forms part of Aldi’s £1.6billion two-year investment strategy unveiled last year, as the chain works towards its long-term target of 1,500 stores nationwide. 

Giles Hurley, chief executive officer at Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Our unwavering commitment is to make high-quality, affordable groceries accessible to everybody.

“But we recognise that there are still areas without an Aldi store, so our expansion plans for 2026 are designed to address some of these gaps as we work towards our long-term goal of 1,500 UK stores. We’ve always believed that access to high-quality, affordable food is a right, not a privilege, and that’s why it’s our mission to make this a reality for customers up and down the UK.”