Staff at Waitrose in Saffron Walden will wave goodbye to a company stalwart at the end of next week when long serving manager Malcolm Domb retires after 30 years with the company.

Malcolm, 59, was deputy manager when the supermarket first opened in the town in 1985 and spent five years in the role before taking up a managerial position in Blaby in Leicestershire.

He returned to the Hill Street store in 1995 as manager and has seen a number of changes in his 20-year stint in the top job, including the multi-million pound site refurbishment, which he oversaw last year.

Malcolm, who leaves on January 15, said it is the people he will miss the most when he retires.

He said: “When you’ve been in a company a long time, you get to know all the other partners very well and share experiences with them. We really are like one big happy family here, and so I shall miss seeing them every day.

“I shall also miss the customers, many of whom I have got to know really well through my time here.”

Malcolm says he intends to split his time between playing golf at Saffron Walden Golf Club, watching his favourite football team more regularly as well as charity work.

He said: “I’m an Arsenal season ticket holder so I won’t have to worry about whether I am working when they are playing anymore. So I look forward to getting down to the Emirates more often and playing more golf.

“I will also be continuing my work as a trustee of King Edward VI Almshouses in Saffron Walden and hope to do some more volunteering in the future.”

Jim Brewin, currently manager of Waitrose in South Woodford, will succeed Malcolm from January 24.