Waitrose steps up expansion with first new supermarket for seven years

Parent group the John Lewis Partnership said it has agreed a multi-million-pound deal to expand the supermarket arm further.
The new store is expected to open in Brabazon, a new town in North Bristol, in 2027.
The 30,000 square foot store, which is being developed in partnership with YTL Developments, is set to create around 150 jobs.
Waitrose is to invest £1 billion on new stores and refurbishments over the next three years (Yui Mok/PA)
It will be the retailer's first full-line supermarket opening since before the Covid pandemic, although it has expanded over the period through convenience and smaller franchise stores.
Waitrose is also set to open a new convenience store in The Arches in Bristol and has recently opened franchised stores with Welcome Break in Spaldwick, Cambridgeshire and Rotherham, and a convenience store in Southwick, West Sussex.
It will open two more Welcome Break stores in Hickling, Leicestershire and Newark, Nottinghamshire, later this summer.
The opening is part of plans to invest £1 billion into new stores and improvements to 150 existing stores over the next three years.
James Bailey, managing director for Waitrose, said: 'We are moving up a gear in store investment as we open in new locations and modernise our existing estate to bring the quality, service and value that customers love about Waitrose closer to more people.
'Brabazon is one of the most exciting new city districts in the UK, driving the growth of one of the UK's most vibrant and successful regional economies.
'Partnering with YTL Developments at Brabazon underlines our ambition and the opportunity we believe we have to grow our reach.'
The store will be in Brabazon, a new neighbourhood in Bristol being built on the former Filton Airfield, where every UK Concorde was built.
Seb Loyn, planning and development director at YTL, said: 'The arrival of Waitrose in 2027 is not only great news for the thriving community of new residents at Brabazon.
'It shows that this new city district is now firmly established as one of the most attractive destinations for both homebuyers and commercial investment in the South West.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Wales Online

9 hours ago

• Wales Online

The incredible deli hidden in Cardiff city centre with holiday in the Med vibes

The incredible deli hidden in Cardiff city centre with holiday in the Med vibes If you want to embrace the joy of southern Italian food, long lunches and a friendly atmosphere then look no further Gloria Serena Arcerito, originally from Sicily is the owner of Khione (Image: Bethany Gavaghan ) If you've not tried out Khione Sicilian Delicatessen in Duke Street Arcade in Cardiff, you're definitely missing a trick. Italy is my ultimate favourite destination to travel to, partly because of their different attitudes to food and they have the cutest little shops which are way more fun to browse in and pick up your daily essentials than the standard UK supermarket. But as I found out recently, you don't actually have to travel to Italy to soak up the glory of Italian food culture. ‌ Khione first started out running at the market in Pontcanna before opening up in Canton and they have now been operating in the city centre for over six months. Owned by Gloria Serena Arcerito, who is originally from Sicily, she started working on the business and idea during lockdown with the intention of bringing the experience of traditional Sicilian cuisine to Cardiff. ‌ All of the products at Khione are all carefully selected and shipped directly from Sicily itself. They're also produced by small businesses and farmers who believe in upholding the traditional family recipes many generations of Sicilians have grown up with. For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here Gloria Serena Arcerito, who moved from Sicily seven years ago and has built up a thriving Italian business in the centre of Cardiff (Image: Bethany Gavaghan ) Gloria moved to the UK seven years ago, and lived with a family in Wales where she learned to speak English. Article continues below 'It was hard at the beginning', she explained. 'I decided to do a full immersion so the family was a Welsh-English family. 'So the lady, Jenny, who's my friend and who owned the house, wanted to learn Italian so we taught each other. We created a community and they helped me start the business because they gave me space which I could use for storage. 'During Covid I also used to work at the City Arms - just because I still wanted to learn and be a part of it all.' ‌ Before meeting Gloria and speaking to her properly I tried out the food the night before to get a sense of how the business flows of a typical day and I fell in love with the atmosphere, décor - as well as the amazing flavours straight away. Olives, bread, lemonade and a pizza slice from Khione (Image: Bethany Gavaghan ) I arrived just before they were set to close at 6pm and as it was a hot summer's afternoon and went for olives and bread which was totally perfect, and a great, light evening snack. ‌ Inside, the vibe is warm and welcoming, and the space invites you to experience a slice of Italian culture in a mix of ways. Downstairs is where the shop sits, where you can stock up on proper Italian food. The décor and layout definitely makes you feel like you've been transported to a Sicilian village rather than the arcades of Cardiff, and when you're browsing through the different products and ingredients - I'd say you feel much more inspired to get creative in the kitchen than picking up food from a chain store, so it acts as a simple reminder of how nice it is to support small businesses. You can look out onto the arcades from some of the seats (Image: Bethany Gavaghan ) ‌ But if you thought that Khione was just a shop then think again. You can also order from their wide-ranging menu and be served food upstairs, where they have one of the loveliest, homiest dining spaces I've come across in the city - or you can dine on the seating located outside the deli. The olives were zesty, with loads of flavour and it was genuinely the best bread I'd eaten since stopping at a deli I haven't stopped thinking about in Ventimaglia, in Italy itself. My partner got a small slice of pizza which was in his words 'a delectable choice for a quick bite and actually very filling', and we both opted for bottles of lemonade which were lovely, and tasted gorgeously organic. Also on the menu is a selection of Italian favourites including Pinsa Romana, Tiramisu', Honey and pecorino cheese, full size pizzas and much much more. ‌ Upstairs in Khione Considering how food is central to her identity and culture, and what it means to her to bring something she is so passionate about to Cardiff, Gloria said: 'My Dad had a company producing preserves, so my dad and the rest of my family are very into food. 'I used to help my mum when she was cooking and making desserts and I would help make cakes or tiramisu. So I just learned by watching. ‌ 'It's nice to cook for the family, and eat together as a family. For example at lunch time we'd always try and wait for each other, of course that's not always possible. There are some gorgeous corners inside the deli which create plenty of room for warmth and connection if you're eating there with friends or family (Image: Bethany Gavaghan ) 'Nowadays it's not always easy if you work all day but if you have a break in the day to get everyone together and talk about what's going on it's a way to release stress and reset for the other half of the day. ‌ 'There is maybe a bit less of that in life day to day. Even in the north of Italy, people work all day, finish earlier but there is no break. 'In the south, people are still taking a little break, one hour or two is a way to reset.' But could these values be picked up by people in Cardiff? Gloria has also found that because of the way the business runs in Cardiff, it might already be encouraging people to slow down a little. She explained: 'Some people who are coming in do seem to be staying a little longer than just for a quick lunch. ‌ One of Gloria's goals for the business is to provide a range of authentic Italian food to people in Cardiff and build more connection with what they are eating (Image: Bethany Gavaghan ) 'We do serve pizza and paninis to take away. Maybe the fact it is a shop it's slightly confusing, and not just somewhere you go to eat. People are surprised that you can come in and especially go upstairs, where there are completely different vibes. 'The idea is if you want to come here and have a nice lunch, or take home and prepare a dinner if you have a special event, or even daily with the tomato sauce - someone else took care of the food for you, so you can have a nice meal, quicker.' Article continues below

Telegraph

14 hours ago

• Telegraph

Supersonic travel inevitable, maker of Concorde successor claims

The return of supersonic travel has become 'inevitable' after Donald Trump lifted a 52-year ban on such flights over US soil, according to the company building a successor to Concorde. Boom Supersonic, which has been developing an updated version of the Anglo-French aircraft for a decade, said the president had provided the final push needed to make the jet a reality. Blake Scholl, Boom's founder, said the lifting of the ban will open up a wider market for supersonic flights and help the sector reach critical mass and financial viability more quickly. Flight times between London and an inland US city such as Chicago could now be cut from 7 hours 20 minutes on a subsonic aircraft to just 4 hours 30 minutes on Boom's Overture jet. Mr Trump signed an executive order lifting the supersonic ban this month after a Boom test flight in January broke the sound barrier without the sonic boom reaching the ground. Mr Scholl said: 'It's just fantastic. I think at this point it makes the return of supersonic passenger flight inevitable.' He said he encountered 'a tremendous amount of excitement' on visiting the White House and Congress a day after announcing that so-called 'boomless cruise' had been achieved. 'It's been talked about in theory for a long time,' he said, 'but once a thing goes from theory to practise all of a sudden it gets people's attention.' A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House of Representatives and Senate, before Mr Trump's intervention rendered the legislative route unnecessary. Speaking about the move, the president expressed frustration with the pace of modern air travel, saying that the industry had 'gone backward' in the past 30 years. Describing Concorde as 'one of the most beautiful pieces of art,' he said the sonic boom was never a huge problem and that companies now had it 'pretty well figured out'. He said: 'The technology changes. So we're making it possible. We have regressed and now we are going to progress.' During its test flights, Boom ensured that sound waves were refracted away from the Earth by breaking the sound barrier at an altitude and speed dictated by atmospheric conditions. Mr Scholl said he expects to see supersonic private jets link American cities as Boom's airliners operate transatlantic routes while taking advantage of the rule change when crossing the US. He said: 'I think other people are going to build this product. It makes the market much larger and the use case much larger.' Canada retains a supersonic ban so a London-Chicago service would have to ignore the shortest route over Newfoundland and fly at Mach 1.7 to the US east coast and then drop its speed to Mach 1.3 to complete the journey. Mr Scholl said Mr Trump's landmark decision, under which the speed ban will be replaced with noise-based standards, should not be viewed as controversial. He said: 'It makes all the sense in the world. If there's no boom, that's not a hard decision.' He said that the 1973 law – introduced to spite Europe and the Soviet Union, which had pressed on with supersonic projects after the US withdrew – had stifled innovation and was 'the worst own goal in regulatory history'. Mr Scholl said the supersonic ban could even be blamed for what he called 'the gradual implosion of Boeing' as talented engineers deserted aerospace for the technology sector and companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Google. He said: 'If you go from the Wright brothers to the introduction of the Boeing 707, every generation of commercial aeroplanes was faster and better. 'But the modern day 787 is really the same product doing the same thing, just more efficient and more refined, but not any better at connecting the planet.'

Cambrian News

15 hours ago

• Cambrian News

Swapping ear tags for ISBNs: Meet rural Wales' bookshop owners where "quirky" sells

Thanks to his online business, he was able to weather the unpredictable storm of the many Covid-19 lockdowns, but has developed a thriving business in the 'exceptional' mid-Wales town which, extraordinarily, boasts not just Literary Cat but four other book shops: 'Having an independent bookshop builds community - people stop by to find out what's going on, ask for help with transport, health queries we can find books for - we're a part of the community here and value that.'