Waitrose opened its first store in Faringdon at 7am on Thursday 2nd February.

The Mayor of Faringdon, Cllr Mike Wise, Deputy Leader of the Vale of White Horse District Council, Cllr Roger Cox and Oxford County Cllr for Faringdon, Judith Heathcoat, were all in attendance to welcome the first customers. They were joined by store manager, Craig Barnard, who was part of the management team at the retailer's Botley Road store in Oxford.

The 6,500sq ft store has created 50 new jobs with almost 90 per cent of the new team coming from Faringdon itself. More than 200 applications were received in just a couple of weeks for the new roles, which include customer service, hospitality and supermarket assistant positions.

All new employees have become members of the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's oldest and largest example of employee ownership. This entitles them to exclusive benefits, including leisure and learning subsidies, shopping discounts and a share in profits in the form of an annual bonus, which ensures a proportion of profits remains in the local community.

Waitrose has also launched its Community Matters 'green token' initiative which will see £500 shared between three causes every month. The Pump House Project, Faringdon Pre-School and The Sensory Garden will be the first three causes to benefit from the scheme.

The new store will feature thousands of products with a focus on fresh foods, a hospitality area with 16 covers for people to enjoy their food and drink and an award-winning wine department.

John Lewis 'click and collect', dry cleaning, its scan as you shop service, Waitrose QuickCheck and its food ordering service, Waitrose Entertaining, will be available too.  

The Mayor of Faringdon, Councillor Mike Wise, said:

"Faringdon's shoppers have been looking forward to having their own Waitrose; the new store will increase Faringdon's customer choice and add to the vitality of Faringdon as a shopping destination."

Waitrose store manager, Craig Barnard, added:

“We have been overwhelmed by the sense of anticipation around our arrival in Faringdon Park. We are incredibly proud to be adding to the investment being made here and of the store we have created. We look forward to playing our part in bringing people to the catchment.”

ENDS