Lidl is looking to open two new shops in Hereford as a part of its scheme to find new plots across the country.

And the budget supermarket giant is willing to pay a finder's fee of up to £22,500 to anyone who successfully suggests a suitable site.

The supermarket chain aims to double its portfolio by opening 1,100 new stores across Great Britain by the end of 2025.

The company says it is looking for "great quality locations...to help continue us our phenomenal growth".

The retailer wants new shops in Hereford north/west and south, as well as Ledbury, Leominster, and Ross-on-Wye.

Lidl currently has one supermarket in Hereford in Commercial Road’s Brook retail park and has also recently submitted plans to Herefordshire Council to demolish the Three Counties Hotel to build another in its place.

But there is not a Lidl in Leominster, the closest Lidl to Ross is in Cinderford around 20-minute drive away or Hereford around 30 minutes away, and the closest to Ledbury is in Hereford or Malvern, both around 30 minutes away.

Lidl also wants to build a new supermarket just over the Herefordshire border in Ludlow.

The closest Lidl is around 50 minutes away in Telford and the next in Shrewsbury.

The chain also wants to relocate its current Malvern supermarket.

Anyone who identifies a site that the company ends up choosing and are not already aware of will receive a fee of either 1.5 per cent of a freehold price or 10% of the first year's rent for leasehold sites.

This means Lidl would offer a finder's fee of £22,500 for a £1.5m site.   

Lidl's chief development officer Richard Taylor said: "We’re opening an average of one new store a week, which is incredible, and our teams have done a phenomenal job of keeping that pace going over the last couple of years.

"But there are still communities up and down the country that are telling us how much they want – and need - a Lidl store.

"We work with some of the best people in the industry to identify new sites, but we also know how engaged our future and existing customers are and we want to build on this.

"Our finder’s fees are, therefore, available to absolutely anyone that can identify a viable option for a new store that we’re not already aware of, and we welcome any suitable suggestions that will help up us to meet our ambitious target of 1,100 stores by the end of 2025.”

The list of requirements for new sites include: 

  • Town centre or edge of centre and retail parks
  • Ideally main road frontage with easy access and strong pedestrian or traffic flow 
  • Freehold, leasehold, or long leasehold opportunities 
  • Unit sizes between 18,000 and 26,500 square feet and 100+ dedicated car parking spaces
  • 1.5+ acres for standalone stores or up to 4 acres for mixed-use schemes