The investment will see the opening of five new stores in Turin, Livorno, Cosenza, Salerno and Genoa, bringing Primark’s total footprint in Italy to 20 stores.

Primark opened its first Italian store eight years ago in the ‘Il Centro’ shopping centre in Arese, Milan and now has 15 stores across the country as well as a regional office in Milan.

The new stores will also be the first in Italy to feature self-service checkouts and the openings will create around 600 new retail roles across the country, increasing the Italian workforce to over 5,000 employees.

Luca Ciuffreda, director of Primark Italy said: “Over the past eight years, Primark has seen significant growth across Italy, already we have 15 stores across 10 provinces, with no intention of slowing down. Today we are proud to announce an ambitious investment in our store portfolio and long-term growth of Primark Italy.

“This exciting expansion plan will create employment and positively impact the local communities where we are opening. Where we have stores already, we know our Italian customers love our offering of the best value fashion, beauty and homeware coupled with an amazing in-store experience, and we look forward to bringing Primark to more customers in more cities across Italy in the coming years.”