Aldi is planning to boost its UK growth and aims to cope with its increasing popularity by hiring 5,000 more staff this year.

It wants the staff for new stores, but also to support existing stores to help them cope with their growing popularity, The Telegraph reported.

The grocer has more than 500 stores already in the UK but is planning another 55 this year.

To help it train the recruits it is creating an academy at its distribution centre in Greater Manchester.

As part of the head count increase, Aldi is hiring 150 store managers and 400 assistant managers.

The discounter has caused problems for the UK’s big four supermarkets, having finally convinced shoppers of the value of its proposition more than 20 years after it entered the UK market. Aldi’s share of the UK grocery market is 4.7%, compared with 28.7& for Tesco, according to Kantar.