THE final touches are being made to the new Waitrose store in Swindon following a three-month build.

The new Mill Lane branch in Wichelstowe will be officially unveiled by Robert Buckland MP at 8am on Thursday, April 10. He will join branch manager Ian Smith and his new team in welcoming the store’s first customers.

It is the realisation of a long-standing ambition by Waitrose to have a store in Swindon and marks a significant milestone for the development being carried out in the area.

It will be run by a team of almost 200 partners, with 95 per cent of them living locally, and the branch will also be taking on two apprentices in customer services and operations. The Waitrose Delivery Service will operate in Swindon, providing shoppers with the option to have their purchases delivered to their homes at a convenient time.

Waitrose Swindon will be supporting the Canal Trust, Commonweal School and the East Wichel Community Association, as the first local causes to benefit from its Community Matters ‘green token’ scheme.

At the end of the month, £1,000 will be divided between the three charities according to the number of tokens received from customers. Customers can nominate different charities each month, resulting in a total of £12,000 donated each year.