MORE details have been revealed about supermarket giant Asda’s planned new Uttoxeter store in response to questions asked by Advertiser readers.
Scores of townsfolk contacted the Advertiser after we exclusively revealed last week that Asda is set to open a new town centre store on the site of the former cattle market in the town bringing hundreds of new jobs.
It has been an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the news but two questions featured in many of the responses — will the store include a petrol station and will Asda’s popular George clothing range have a place in the store? The Advertiser put those questions to Asda’s property communications manager Oliver James.
He said: “I don’t believe there are plans to incorporate a petrol station currently. The store would, however, be of a size that could accommodate some of our George range.” The Asda store will be part of the Carters Square development and a full public consultation is set to take place before a full planning application is submitted later in the year Uttoxeter MP Andrew Griffiths (pictured) has hailed news of Asda’s planned store as a ‘pivotal moment in the regeneration of Uttoxeter town centre’.
He said: “It is so critically important because it is going to be connected to and right next to the High Street and I think it will act as a magnet to bring shoppers into the town centre and there will be a knock-on effect in terms of footfall.
“It is also good news that there will be increased competition as Tesco has had a stranglehold on the town for a long time.
“We have been waiting with bated breath for so long for the cattle market development to move forward and the news that such a well-respected national name is coming to the town gives everybody a great deal of confidence that the development will take place.” Uttoxeter town and borough councillor and landlord of Ye Olde Talbot Inn Andrew Riley said he was ‘over the moon’ about the announcement.
He said: “Something of that size and that nature in the heart of the town and not on the outskirts has got to be good.
“I hope it is a move forward to attract some other big names to the town and encourage other business to have a look at us.
“It is brilliant news for Uttoxeter I just want to see it get started as sometimes seeing is believing.” Meanwhile, Asda’s announcement saw another supermarket giant admit its interest in a store in the town possibly as part of the JCB legacy development.
Morrisons have said they are looking at opening a store in the town, with a spokesman saying: “Morrisons continues to have ambitious growth plans and we are looking at every option available to us.
“Uttoxeter is a place which interests us and is somewhere we are looking at opening a store.”
