Aldi has listed Dorchester as one of its priority locations for opening a new store. 

The supermarket chain has stepped up its search for new sites across the country as it aims to continue rolling out new stores at pace.

New industry data revealed this week that Aldi remains the fastest-growing supermarket. As well as growing sales by over 26% year-on-year, during the last three months Aldi attracted 1.3million more shoppers with customer spend switching from every other supermarket.

Aldi plans to invest more than £400million in store development over the coming year as it targets new and refurbished stores across the UK.

It currently has more than 990 stores but is committed to continuing towards its current target of 1,200 stores across the UK to reach more shoppers, with Dorchester on its list of priority locations.

That means it is on the lookout for freehold town-centre or edge-of-town sites that are about 1.5 acres and can accommodate a 20,000sq foot store with about 100 parking spaces.

Ideally, each location would be near a main road with good visibility and access, with priority locations listed below.

The supermarket offers a finder's fee for agents who recommend a site, which is either 1.5% of a freehold price or 10% of the first year's rent for leasehold sites.

Giles Hurley, chief executive officer at Aldi UK, said: "Demand for Aldi has never been higher but there are still some towns and areas that either don't have access to an Aldi or have capacity for additional stores.

"To meet that demand, we need to open more stores and it's our mission to keep driving our ambitious expansion plan to achieve that."

Priority locations include:

1. Birmingham

2. Warwick

3. Wellingborough

4. Cathcart, Glasgow

5. Drylaw, Edinburgh

6. Bonnyrigg

7. Wilmslow

8. Wigan

9. Penwortham

10. Barry

11. Torquay

12. Saltash

13. Basildon

14. Rayleigh

15. St Albans

16. York

17. Harrogate

18. Scarborough

19. Sunderland

20. Chesterfield

21. Ossett

22. Formby

23. Upton

24. Liverpool

25. Chesterton

26. Tunbridge Wells

27. Worthing

28. Bath

29. Oxford

30. Dorchester

Anybody who has a site that may fit Aldi's requirements should contact [email protected]