The eagerly anticipated opening of the new multi-million pound building which will house Waitrose in Egham has been further delayed. The supermarket was originally due to open in the Spring of this year, but the date was pushed back to the last week of October. However, the project is still yet to be completed.
The building will see a new Waitrose supermarket with underground parking and delivery access alongside an 80 room Travelodge. Though Waitrose have not divulged the reason for the delay in proceedings, reportedly it has been caused over the question of employee parking spaces. Waitrose have stated that staff will be asked to park offsite, as the company considers customer parking to be a ‘priority’. This news has been the cause of further worry for Egham residents who already struggle to deal with the amount of congestion and on-street parking in the town.
Waitrose are asking their employees to try to take public transport, walk or cycle to the new supermarket wherever possible. However, in a statement issued regarding the delay, the supermarket chain highlighted that emphasis would be upon customer parking for the opening period, and ‘once our trading pattern has been established we will review the situation, accommodating staff parking in our car park when possible.’