Waitrose: There is no freeze-out

Tuesday 26th October 2010, 3:00PM BST.

Waitrose has bought the Safeway supermarket as well as Checkers at Red Houses and Rue des Prés

SUPERMARKET group Waitrose has dismissed accusations that it is trying to freeze local contractors out of refurbishment work on the stores it has bought in Jersey.

The company says that in some areas it will have to bring in its own specialist personnel if it is to meet its target of reopening its stores within a fortnight of closing them for a refit.

But Waitrose says that it will soon be contacting local firms to assess their capability to work at the speed and standards required by the John Lewis Partnership-owned group.

The UK supermarket chain has bought the Safeway store off Trinity Hill as well as the Checkers supermarkets at Red Houses and Rue des Prés. It is now looking at employing more than 200 people in Jersey, about 100 more than originally announced.

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1
Mark

October 27, 2010 at 8:44 am

Common sense dictates that if you (Waitrose) is going through a period of expansion and shop refitting, as Waitrose is, there will already be contractors on the Waitrose books accustomed to what is required and the standards expected. Such preferred contractors start with a huge competitive advantage, notwithstanding that they are new to the quirks of the Channel Iles.

This is unlikely to be a premeditated freeze-out; just the cold wind of the free market.

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2
Scouser

October 31, 2010 at 7:28 pm

Thank God Waitrose has the common sense to use tried and tested contractors. Jersey firms will do well to stop, look, listen and learn from this little soap opera.

Tough!

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