Hadleigh: New Morrisons store to open on Monday, January 14

A NEW superstore is due to open in Hadleigh next week, bringing 228 jobs to the area.

Despite several hiccups during the planning process, Morrisons will launch its long-awaited supermarket in Calais Street on Monday at 9am.

The company worked in partnership with Job Centre Plus to ensure that 87 of the new jobs went to people who were previously unemployed. It also ran a pre-employment training course to enable people to get experience of working in a supermarket.

The new staff have been trained in a range of traditional craft skills such as butchery, fishmongery, bakery and flower arranging, which will be the main focus of the ‘fresh market’ inspired shopping space. Products on offer will include 140 cuts of meat, more than 80 cheeses and up to 48 varieties of fresh-baked bread.

Store general manager, Kevin Gilbert, said: “We wanted to create an experience that was different from other supermarkets in the area. We aimed to offer customers a fantastic range of fresh products at great value with excellent customer service, and I think we have done just that.

“The team have worked hard to train as specialists in a variety of areas and that means many products will be created by them in-store each morning.

“We want the store to become part of Hadleigh and hope that our café will provide a much needed place for local community groups to meet.”

Official opening duties will be performed by Tom and Kathleen Scrimgeour of the Hadleigh branch of Save the Children - Morrison’s official charity partner.

Rival chain Tesco, which has resubmitted an application to build a supermarket in Hadleigh town centre, has repeatedly objected to Morrisons’ plans.