In pictures: Sneak peek at Banbury Waitrose ahead of opening

The town’s newest supermarket boasts a cafe, community room, sushi bar, deli counters and more at its new branch on Southam Road.

Manager Daniel Morehead gave the Banbury Guardian a sneak peek inside the store this week and said he wants it to benefit the town.

“With Waitrose now, we give great products that are affordable with great value, we care about our community and our customers,” he said.

“We want to build genuine relationships with our customers that last for a very long time, not just serving people, we want to build relationships with them and that makes us different to everyone else.”

The store’s ‘community room’ is available for groups to book for free.

The team has been working around the clock to get the supermarket ready for the 7am opening with the first three charities who will benefit from Waitrose’s ‘green token’ scheme.

Daniel said everybody is excited to invite customers into the shop as it has been a long time coming, with planning permission agreed in 2015.

“I think the store looks absolutely brilliant, we just need to open the doors now, it’s overwhelming,” he said.

What do you think of your first impression? Send your thoughts to [email protected] or comment on our Facebook post.

See tomorrow’s paper for even more pictures.