BFREPA attend Lidl Parliamentary Breakfast

Published on : 26 Jun 2025

The event was organised by Lidl GB as they prepare to open their 1,000th store in Great Britain

Gary Ford was invited to attend the Lidl GB Parliamentary Breakfast event which took place on 25th June in the Churchill Room at the Palace of Westminster.

The event was organised to mark a significant landmark for Lidl GB as they prepare to open their 1,000th store in Great Britain in November, 31 years after opening their first store in 1994. Along with 40 MPs, various partners and stakeholders involved with Lidl attended the breakfast event.

Addressing the event Ryan McDonnell, CEO of Lidl GB, recognised the importance of British agriculture and Lidl’s continued investment in British suppliers, with two thirds of supply into Lidl now British with that the cost of production was key to this. Ryan went on to say that Lidl is both proud and passionate about championing and supporting British agriculture and excellence and gave the example of eggs being 100% British. Further that he was keen to develop British agriculture to be able to export into Europe and, as part of reducing the burden on exporters, he warmly welcomed the UK/EU negotiations on an SBS agreement which commenced in May. Ryan added that Lild had great ambitions when it came to future store openings.

Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations, Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, spoke positively of the 'remarkable achievement' of Lidl from its first store opening in GB in 1994 recognising that it now has 36,000 employees. The Minister talked enthusiastically about agri food trade with Europe, the benefits for businesses and consumers alike and the work being undertaken by the government to facilitate an SBS agreement with the EU and the benefits that would accrue in terms of less paperwork, inspections and export opportunities.