Walton le Dale (721) :Opening

Waitrose Walton-le-Dale opened on 2/02/2012.
The following article appeared in the partnerships in-house magazine Waitrose The Chronicle

Not only has the branch caused a well of excitement for new customers, it created almost 190 new jobs, with 1,600 people applying. “The feedback and excitement from all the new Partners has been fantastic,” said ASM Operations Phil Taylor, who transferred from Altrincham. “I think they realise they’ve joined something special, and that reflects in the atmosphere on the shopfloor.”
The 30,000sq ft branch, which was opened by the Mayor of South Ribble, Councillor Jim Marsh, is situated in a retail park about a mile away from Preston town centre, and is our first store in Lancashire.
The building was formerly a ten-pin bowling alley.

ASM Customer services Claire Sagar transferred from Meanwood because she wanted “a fresh challenge and to progress to ASM. Getting into a new team has been brilliant – it’s come together really well and Cath has been great as a new Branch Manager,” she said. “It’s created lots of job opportunities and feels like a really joyous occasion. I’m enjoying every minute of it.”

Meanwhile ASM Operations Phil Taylor, who transferred from Altrincham and ran a restaurant in Tenerife for 12 years before joining our Formby branch, said that he hadn’t looked back since becoming a Partner, and he jumped at the chance of being in a new branch as it opened.
BM Cath Harrison has been a Partner for almost six years, having been BM at both Formby and Sandbach before opening Walton-le-Dale, and has worked in food retail for 28 years. However, in all that time, this is the first time she has opened a branch. “I’m so excited – this is something I wanted to experience right from the start, from the planning side all the way through,” she said. “It gives me an opportunity to really set the branch culture from the word go”.