Aldi will be closing the doors to all its UK stores on Boxing Day this year to allow staff to“spend more time with their families”.
After what has been yet another jam-packed year for the retail industry, and with the run-up to Christmas known to be one of the busiest periods of them all, many workers have been left feeling like they could do with a little extra time off.
And this is why Aldi has announced it will be shutting up shop on a major festive bank holiday this year.
The popular supermarket retailer – which currently has over 1,000 stores across the UK, and employs around 36,000 people – has confirmed that it will close all of its stores on Boxing Day, just as it has done in several years prior – with the company saying it’s to once again say thank you to its tens of thousands of employees “for all their hard work”.
Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket will close on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year, before reopening as usual on Wednesday 27 December, so shoppers can pick up all the essentials they may need before New Year’s Day.
As well as the planned bank holiday closures, Aldi is also reminding customers that its opening hours will vary in the run-up to Christmas too – with the supermarket operating extended hours so that everyone has the chance to stock-up on festive food, drink, and more ahead of the big day.
“We recognise that Christmas is an important time for many of our colleagues, and keeping our stores closed on Boxing Day gives them more time to spend with their families,” explained Richard Thornton, the Communications Director at Aldi UK.
“Customers will have plenty to look forward to in the run-up to Christmas, with more of Aldi’s brand-new Christmas ranges arriving in stores over the next few weeks.”
Aldi’s confirmation that all UK stores will be shut on the Boxing Day bank holiday follows in the footsteps of fellow discount retailer Home Bargains, which was one of the first companies to announce back in mid-September that it’ll be closing all its stores across the UK on both Boxing Day and New Year’s Day to make sure staff get a “well deserved break”.
Several other retailers will also be closing doors on selected dates over the festive period for similar reasons cited by Aldi and Home Bargains.
The news that Aldi is closing this Boxing Day also comes after the company launched a massive festive recruitment drive, with the hopes of welcoming 3,000 new staff members, both temporary and permanent, to its teams at stores right across the UK ready for the busy Christmas period.
Some of the roles available include Store Assistants – with starting pay for this being an industry-leading £11.40 per hour nationally – managerial positions, cleaners, and more.
Featured Image – Aldi UK
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Here’s how you can get FREE Tony’s Chocolonely and Yorkshire Tea in Leeds next week
In honour of National Chocolate Week, two big brands are joining forces.
Fancy a freebie? Silly question, of course you do.
Tony’s Chocolonely and Yorkshire Tea have joined forces for National Chocolate Week to ask Brits to declare themselves a ‘Melt’...yes, really.
It comes after the brands discovering a new Gen Z dunking trend, with research finding that 80% of 18–24-year-olds say chocolate is their preferred tea-dunking treat.
To understand why the perculiar pairing has become so popular, the brands recruited Associate Professor of Psychobiology, Dr Lorenzo Stafford, to investigate what happens when tea and chocolate come together.
Associate Professor, Dr Lorenzo Stafford said: "It's fascinating to see how much thought Brits put into what makes a great dunk. Flavour, texture and temperature all shape how we experience food, and the combination of hot tea with melting chocolate creates a particularly enjoyable sensory experience.
"When it comes to dunking, tea and chocolate have great chemistry so it’s no surprise young people have embraced it."
If you want to try it out for yourself, then you can for free - but there is one catch.
From Monday 19 to Friday 23 October, anyone who walks into one of Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds and says ‘I'm a Melt’ will get a free mug of Yorkshire Tea and bar of Tony's Chocolonely.
Not only that, but the first 100 customers will also get a limited-edition ‘Melt’ cap.
Yorkshire Tea & Tony’s Chocolonely said of the partnership, “Brits love their tea and their chocolate and now the science shows why. This National Chocolate Week, we’re inviting everyone to give it a go, embrace their inner Melt and discover just how well chunky chocolate and a proper brew can work together.”
Leeds Bradford Airport strikes will NOT go ahead following ‘late offer’ over pay
Clementine Hall
This weekend's strikes at Leeds Bradford Airport have been cancelled.
Around 130 workers were set to walk out this weekend, Unite said, but this has been suspended to allow air traffic controllers to consider a new pay offer.
The Unite members planning on to go on strike were a mixture of air traffic control workers, customer experience staff, security staff and cleaners.
The workers involved in the dispute had recently come out of a four-year pay deal, with some of the departments having fallen behind other airports in equivalent roles.
Pay talks have been happening since December 2025, with the airport's formal offer not going far enough to address the lack of pay parity which led to the decision to strike.
However, as of yesterday 15 October, the workers have been given new pay offers from the airport and the strikes will not take place to allow a ballot on the offers.
Air traffic controllers and hourly paid staff are being balloted separately on their respective offers.
Unite regional officer Neil Whitaker said: "After receiving offers from Leeds Bradford Airport, we have suspended this week’s strike action in good faith to allow members to vote on pay deals.”
In a statement, Leeds Bradford Airport said: "While the ballot process continues with certain members of our frontline colleagues, we remain hopeful that a positive outcome can be achieved and that an agreement can be reached which works for everyone involved.
"Regardless of the outcome of this ballot, LBA has a robust contingency plan in place and will be operating as normal this weekend.
"Our focus remains on supporting a smooth and reliable experience for customers while maintaining safe and efficient airport operations."
Clementine Hall -
7th November 2023 
