Bayswater 756: Opening

Waitrose Bayswater opened on 29/05/2008

Waitrose continues to build on its estate of countrywide supermarkets with the opening of our Bayswater branch.

Bayswater opened on 29th May 2008, the first branch to launch our new generation of Mark V supermarkets.

The shop of The Colonnades in London is one of our recent Budgens food shop acquisitions and has been prepared for opening in less than nine weeks. Delighted BM Sue says ‘The design of this branch has taken the best of Marylebone and John Barnes and put them into a mainstream Waitrose branch.’
The Mark V design has meant a number of firsts for the 12 070 sq ft shop as Sue explains, ‘We are the first branch to open as new with a rolling warehouse and the first new branch to implement the use of the new Potential Reductions Reporting (PRR) which is already being used in some branches.
Des, Head of Retail Operations, Group F, was overwhelmed that the fact that our teams were able to achieve the turnaround from Budgens so quickly, saying, ‘I came to see the branch a few weeks ago – it had been completely gutted and it was just a shell. Yet here we are today with our shining new branch, looking every inch a Waitrose, beautifully turned out – it is quite incredible.
Many of the original 62 former Budgens employees have taken up the offer to become Partners in the business. In total, 50 of them have continued to work in the branch as Partners, undergoing re-training at nearby London branches.

Establishing Waitrose within the local community has been a further task in achieving a successful opening.
Sue admits, ‘The biggest challenge is the work I have done building relations with the neighbours because we want to prove that we are a good neighbour. We are attached to 300 apartments and mews houses as part of this complex, so a large part of the work has been a matter of trying to negotiate operational matters for the building works and for future deliveries.
The area is a very cosmopolitan neighbourhood, and our customers are from homes that vary from bedsits to £3.3 million houses, yet Sue has met with positive feedback from all quarters. ‘The residents are delighted that Waitrose has come to Bayswater.’ says Sue.
To underline its commitment to the community the branch has rolled out the new Communities Matters Project which gives customers the opportunity to choose the local charities that the branch supports with fund raising activities.

Edited excerpt from the Waitrose Chronicle: Vol 68 No 23, 7th June 2008.

Address: The Colonnades 38 Porchester Road Bayswater London W2 6ES