A new era of Barking supermarket shopping will begin next week with the opening of the new Asda.

Barking and Dagenham Post: Kelly Wenborne, Harry Turner, who will open the store, and Ricky Lovell with a picture of the bagKelly Wenborne, Harry Turner, who will open the store, and Ricky Lovell with a picture of the bag (Image: Archant)

The North Street store will officially open to customers at 10am on Thursday, following the closure of the Vicarage Field shop at 10pm tomorrow.

In preparation for the move, 360 staff members came together for a memorable night of bonding on Sunday, August 16.

Mixing the 210 current colleagues with the additional 150 about to join the team, the crowd walked together from the old store to the new supermarket, before descending on the Broadway theatre.

“We just wanted to get everyone together outside of work for a big hello, as we call it in Asdsa,” said customer champion Rickey Lovell.

“It was a good chance to get to know some of the new guys starting, outside of work, which is good for the team.”

Prizes were handed out to staff members for outstanding contributions, while nine-year-old competition winner Harry Turner picked up his Samsung Galaxy tablet for his bag-for-life design.

The Eastbury Primary School pupil will cut the red ribbon on Thursday.