Do they or don't they? St Martin none the wiser on whether Aldi wants to set up shop - Jersey Evening Post
by Julien Morel · Jersey Evening PostPosted inNews
Do they or don’t they? St Martin none the wiser on whether Aldi wants to set up shop
by Julien Morel 21 May 202621 May 2026
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DO they or don’t they? That is the hustings’ question. Once again, the willingness of two German supermarkets to open in Jersey featured on the Senatorial candidates’ roadshow, which on Wednesday evening paused for two hours at St Martin’s Public Hall.
And the audience were left none the wiser, with some candidates affirming their belief that budget retail outlets Aldi and Lidl wanted to move to the Island, and others saying they did not.
Current Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham should probably have an idea. Addressing the audience, he said: “I can assure you that Aldi and Lidl are not knocking on the door to come here, and if they were, we would welcome them with open arms.
“Their business models work on very high turnover and low margins in towns and cities with catchment areas much larger than the Channel Islands. But if they do want to come here, we will do everything that we can to accommodate them.”
Another candidate who had his doubts about the possibility of Aldi or Lidl moving to Jersey was Sir Mark Boleat, who said: “It is not quite [because of] their business model; it is because we are not in the United Kingdom.
“Basically, Jersey is good enough for Lidl or Aldi: their population criteria is 20,000 – we meet that, no problem. They would turn over £12m a year on average, and want a quarter of million pounds in profit.
“But the question for them is: ‘Ah, Jersey: we cannot put them on the payroll, there is a different tax system, social security system and laws on consumer policy. The planning system is also unpredictable. There goes our £250,000 profit’. That is the issue for them.
“If it was profitable, they would absolutely be here now.”
However, Serena Kirsten-Guthrie presented a counter-narrative. She said: “There have been multiple conversations by Aldi and Lidl saying that they want to come to Jersey. That has been happening for a long time, and that is not a secret.”
She conceded: “It is not going to be easy. Planning is an issue, which is why we have to seriously look at [the Island Plan] and redesign it to meet the needs of this Island, because it needs a budget supermarket.”
Treasury Minister Elaine Millar said she was “very optimistic about either Aldi or Lidl coming to Jersey”, adding “arguments we have had about these supermarkets could equally have been had for Waitrose”.
However, she continued: “If anybody thinks that they are going to come in and bring prices that you pay in central Manchester to Jersey, no, they won’t. We will be paying, if we are lucky, central London prices, which will be more expensive.”
Deputy Millar said that she had visited Lidl in Orkney last summer, adding that if they had one there, they could have one in Jersey.
Other candidates commenting included Deputy Steve Luce, who said the difference between Jersey and a UK town with a similar catchment was that the latter had another 500,000 people on its doorstep, and Alan Maclean, who said he was “all in favour” of a budget supermarket coming, but added that prices would not be the same as the UK due to higher costs, including the living and minimum wage.
Other topics raised in St Martin included solar farms, with all candidates expressing their opposition to panels going on prime agricultural fields – although some raised the prospect of them on less fertile land; and the quality of provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability.
What made them laugh?
Sir Mark Boleat pointing out that Jersey’s first recorded concern about overpopulation was in 1475.
And answering a question about whether candidates supported the Island’s shooting community, Deputy Sam Mézec said that the sport had never appealed to him growing up; however, he had done it on a stag-do last year – and hit seven bullseyes with his first ten shots.
What made them groan?
It was a groan-free hustings in St Martin; what was clear, however, was that the JEC had not made many friends – at least, in the audience – with their now-withdrawn plans to build a solar farm in the parish.
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