Tenbury supermarket on track for opening

The new Tesco store at Tenbury Wells is almost ready to open, bosses have said, and three days of special events are now planned around the opening in two weeks time.

It has taken seven years from when the store was first prosed to the completion of of building work on the town's former cattle market site, but Jessica Walker, speaking for Tesco, said everything was running to schedule for the planned April 27 opening.

She said: "The Wednesday night before the opening day will be a preview evening and we will be inviting local councillors, the football club and other people and groups that have supported the supermarket for a first look.

"Thursday will be our first day of trading, then on Friday we will have five local suppliers in store to give people a taste and show of their products, which will also be on the shelves, and the MP, Harriet Baldwin, will be coming along to see the store as well."

She said there had been a delay in the opening date, which was originally slated for the end of February, as store bosses had to wait for town centre highways work linked to the development to be completed.

She said: "We had to push back the opening because of the roadworks but the main thing is that the road works are now coming along and should be complete for day.

"Everything is on track. Recruitment has been completed as far as I am aware and the new store manager, Dave Ashton, is setting up the shop as we speak, and he's going out and about and meeting everybody.

"The store itself looks great, it's one of our new models."

She said the community around the Tenbury Wells area would benefit from a number of schemes run by the new store.

The Tenbury Wells store will be running the Tesco Bags of Help scheme, which sees monthly grants of up to £4,000 – all raised from the 5p bag levy – being awarded to local community projects.

In south Shropshire, via other stores, the initiative has already helped fund things such as a new play area at the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre in Craven Arms and a sensory garden at the rear of Ludlow's Castle Street car park.

The supermarket chain has also teamed up with FareShare and is seeking to recruit local charities around the south east Shropshire border that might benefit from surplus fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, baked goods and ready meals.

The supermarket, which was first mooted in 2010 but saw years in limbo before finally being green lit in 2016, and it’s going ahead was also linked to the funding of a range of town schemes.