Crime & Safety
Customers queue for new Abingdon M&S foodhall opening day
Work has been taking place for months at the former Homebase unit at Fairacres Retail Park to prepare for the big day.
Staff – and a giant inflatable Colin the Caterpillar – were there to welcome customers at 8am.
READ MORE: M&S new foodhall opening date
The retail site spans more than 18,000 sq ft and the foodhall comes as part of the ongoing M&S “rotation and renewal programme”.
Store manager Paddy Sunderland, a former pupil of Wallingford School, said it was a proud moment for him as he opened the new store.
He added: “It’s very exciting to be open – we now have 75 new staff, and we are looking forward to welcoming customers from Abingdon and the surrounding towns and villages.
“I grew up in Benson, and I’m very proud to be the manager of a store in my own county.”
The store will offer the full M&S Food range, from everyday essentials to household must-haves and the latest new product launches.
Customers can look forward to an in-store bakery and coffee counter, offering a selection of freshly baked breads and pastries, as well as a range of barista-made takeaway drinks and a hot chicken counter, serving BBQ and butter-basted flavour British rotisserie chicken.
Mr Sunderland added: “With the full range of M&S Food products, we have everything for customers’ weekly shop but also something for everyone, whether grabbing lunch on the go or wanting to try our latest seasonal launches.”
Jo Clarke, a web developer from Abingdon, was one of the first customers and bought some pastries for breakfast.
She said: “M&S opening here means more choice for shoppers in the area.
“M&S will be a big draw and the car park is going to get busier. I cycled here and people should definitely walk or cycle if they can.”
Denise Asim, who visited the new store, said she was impressed, and added: “There’s an excellent range of gluten-free products.”
Suzanne Henwood, from Abingdon, who has worked at M&S for 24 years, is one of the new employees at the foodhall.
She said: “I have worked in Oxford and in Didcot M&S stores but this is ideal for me.
“I think the new foodhall is very impressive – the size of it blows you away when you walk in.”
The store will also offer fresh produce from M&S’ Select Farm partners – over 60 of which are based in Oxfordshire – and M&S’ Remarkable Value and family-friendly Bigger Pack Better Value ranges will be available across the foodhall.
A dedicated Click and Collect point will also make collecting online fashion, home and beauty orders easy.
When the plans for the new store were approved last year, Abingdon shoppers said they were looking forward to the new foodhall as it meant they would no longer have to travel to Didcot or Oxford to shop at M&S.
Joining the ranks of Primark, TK Maxx, John Lewis and more, the toy shop is the latest addition to the city centre retail spot.
A spokeswoman for the Westgate previously confirmed that the shop will be opening in “early May”.
Then in February, hoardings started to appear, covering the empty ground-floor unit, which Lego is set to move into.
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Now, an official opening day date has been confirmed with the store to open on Thursday, May 7.
The hoardings currently outside feature the brand’s logo as well as iconic Oxford sights made in brick form, including rowers and Oxford University’s Radcliffe Camera.
It will be Oxfordshire’s first Lego store despite selling products inside shops such as Toys R Us and supermarkets.
Lego has stores in Reading, Milton Keynes, Bristol and London.
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Shweta Munshi, vice president of marketing at the Lego Group, said earlier: “We have found the perfect site at Westgate Oxford.
“The new store will allow builders of all ages to be inspired by the endless play opportunities Lego building has to offer.
“This store will be a top destination for product launches and events, while acting as a hub for our Lego community and new builders alike.”
The Westgate unit was formerly a temporary Christmas decorations and gift shop in the past.
Standing empty ever since, the unit is next to one of the entrances and exits to the shopping centre on the ground level.
Performing on Saturday, April 18 at the shopping centre, the Charlotte Mendly Voice Centre Choir from Nottinghamshire sang from 12.30pm to 1.15pm.
Originally set up in 2012, the choir has released a charity single and won the choir class at Selston Music Festival 2019.
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A spokesperson for the choir called its Oxford tour “unforgettable” and “filled with laughter”.
After the choir’s performance at the Westgate, the group then performed at St Michael’s at the North Gate, sharing the space with a Ukrainian choir.
A spokesperson said: “It was such a special experience bringing music and cultures together.”
On Sunday, April 19, the group then performed at Oxford Castle.
The 37-year-old, known for Fresh Meat and Bad Education, tied the knot with model Roxy Horner during a countryside wedding over the weekend.
The pair announced their engagement in December 2024, nearly a year after welcoming their first child, Elsie.
Ahead of the ceremony at Euridge Manor in Wiltshire, Whitehall, who was due to wear a Tom Ford suit, had a wardrobe malfunction and changed into a back-up Dunhill suit.
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Speaking to British Vogue, Mr Whitehall said: “I squatted down to pick up Elsie and my trousers split, my whole ass was hanging out.”
Meanwhile, Horner wore a strapless silk Galia Lahav gown and veil for the ceremony with Alaia Le Coeur heels, complete with a diamond necklace, earrings, bracelet and ring by Roxanne Assoulin.
She later changed into a second Lahav dress for the reception, paired with Freya Rose heels.
Ms Horner said: “I also wore my grandmother’s engagement ring that she handed down to me when she passed away, which was so special.”
For her “something borrowed”, she had a bell on her bouquet as part of a centuries-old family tradition, completed with a blue ribbon on her garter, which she said later fell off.
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The 34-year-old walked down the aisle with her father, Perry, and said that although she was really nervous before walking out, she later “got the giggles” because she kept tripping over her dress while walking up the stairs.
“Then Jack was blubbing at the end of the aisle,” she said.
Their daughter was one of three flower girls at the ceremony and wore a white dress like her mother.
Ms Horner said: “It was very sweet when she got to the end of the aisle.
“I just heard her go, ‘daddy, daddy!’”
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During the ceremony, a string quartet played Beauty And The Beast from the hit Disney film, with readings from a number of friends and family, including Ms Horner’s sister, who read a piece from Winnie the Pooh, while one of Mr Whitehall’s oldest friends, Tally Gilbert, read a personalised poem she had written for the couple.
The lakeside ceremony also included a Shakespearean sonnet performed by actor and Whitehall, and his father’s good friend, Neil Stuke, before the pair shared their first dance together to Michael Jackson’s Rock With You, with the party going on into the early hours of the morning.
The newlyweds will head to Venice for their honeymoon, with a stay on the luxury Belmond Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express train.
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