Waitrose’s hiring a head of convenience means that the retailer will soon be taking on the likes of Sainsbury's Local and M&S Simply Food. The revelation that Waitrose is to pit itself against Tesco Express, Sainsbury's Local and M&S Simply Food is particularly unwelcome news for Marks & Spencer, which unveiled like-for-like food sales down 4.5% this month.

A Waitrose spokeswoman stated: "We would hope to be trialling a shop within six to nine months." The convenience shops are likely to be between 280 m² and 370 m². Andrew Kasoulis, an analyst at Credit Suisse, commented, "The obvious one that Waitrose will trade against would be M&S Simply Food. But convenience stores are difficult to get right, and if Waitrose is successful in this market it will be a while before they hurt anyone."
 
This is now the task of Anthony Wysome, a former senior project manager at Waitrose, who has been appointed to the head of convenience role. Grocery experts at IGD said that sales in the UK convenience sector grew by 5.1% in 2007 - faster than the overall grocery market.

Waitrose's convenience store plans follow the launch this year of its market-town stores, which are typically sized about 1200 sq m.