The boss of discount supermarket Lidl says it is facing its toughest ever Christmas.
Christian Hartnagel told the Mirror: “It is much more work to deliver this Christmas than it has ever been.
“I have been in this industry for 20 years but it is unprecedented what we are facing at the moment.”
Mr Hartnagel, chief executive of Lidl GB, said like all retailers it was facing higher inflation, but vowed to keep prices rises “at the absolute minimum.”
He added that the risk of product shortages had eased in recent weeks.
His comments came as German-owned Lidl announced plans to have 1,100 UK stores by the end of 2025, creating another 4,000 store jobs.
The discounter, with 880 branches now, is opening a new store at a rate of one a week.
Lidl yesterday published accounts revealing sales jumped 12% to £7.7billion in the year to the end of February.
Its £9.8million profit - up from a £25.2m loss a year ago - would have been more had it not repaid more than £100m business rate relief.
Lidl was among “essential” retailers allowed to remain open during the Covid lockdowns.
A number of others that bagged the tax perk have kept the money.
Mr Hartnagel refused to condemn those rivals directly, but added: “We paid back the business rates because we felt it was the right thing to do.”
