UK: Lidl opens first store pub
- DRC Discount Retail Consulting GmbH
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Discount Retail Chain Lidl UK is building its first own pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, right next to a Lidl supermarket. The reason for this is as curious as the idea itself.
A discounter becomes an innkeeper
Dundonald, a small suburb of the Northern Irish capital Belfast. Something unique is currently being built here: the world's first Lidl restaurant. The chain is building the pub right next to an existing supermarket, space for up to 60 guests. It is scheduled to open in the summer. On the menu: beer, wine and spirits, with a focus on regional suppliers. The planning phase lasted six years, according to Gordon Cruikshanks, the company's regional managing director for Northern Ireland.
Strict laws force pub construction
But why does a discounter build a pub at all? The answer lies in Northern Ireland's strict alcohol laws. If you want to sell alcohol, you need a license, another company has to "cede it". In addition, proof is required: There are too few licensed businesses for public use in the area.
It was precisely at this point that the chain failed, for a regular supermarket license to sell alcohol, it could not prove that there were too few supermarkets selling alcohol in the region. For a pub, on the other hand, the proof of need worked. In recent years, two nearby bars had closed and released their licenses, this created a gap in the offer for the population.
The legal classification as a pub now also allows a so-called off-sales zone (area for alcohol sales to take away), an opportunity that the discounter could use to also sell in the adjacent store alcohol for sale. However, further restaurants of this kind are unlikely due to the special circumstances.
Competitors fail in court
The idea was not met with enthusiasm everywhere. Competitors filed a lawsuit in the High Court. The accusation: The company is using an inadmissible loophole. In January 2025, the lawsuit was dismissed. The judge found that the law does not block innovative business models.
Discounters such as Aldi and Lidl are expanding their market share in United Kingdom massively. In the next twelve months, the Company more than 50 new stores are opening and investing over 600 million pounds, the equivalent of about 689 million euros. A pub is probably the most unusual new opening of these.
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