The island’s newest Tesco superstore is set to open on Thursday morning.

The Port Erin store is the fourth of nine new stores set to open on the island this year following Tesco’s acquisition of Shoprite.

To mark the grand opening, Tesco is donating £1,000 to charity Southern Befrienders – which provides one-to-one companionship to older people who would like extra social contact through a weekly volunteer visit or telephone call.

The southern store, which closed for its refurbishment in mid-March, will include products from Manx suppliers as well clothing essentials and a Costa coffee machine in addition to the usual great range of products available in Tesco Express stores.

A spokesperson from the retail giant said: ‘Supporting the local community is hugely important to Tesco and its colleagues, and the new stores will look to have an ongoing positive impact through the retailer’s community programmes - Tesco Stronger Starts and Community Food Connection – supporting charities and community groups across the island.’

Over the last seven years, the supermarket’s customers in the Isle of Man have helped to nominate worthy recipients of grants totalling £217,504 for 109 groups and good causes through its blue token voting scheme, ‘Stronger Starts’.

The spokesperson added: ‘Given the pressures on household budgets, Tesco remains committed to providing value now more than ever. With customers increasingly looking to save money on their food shop, customers will be able to take advantage of Clubcard prices to ensure they are getting the best deals every time they shop.’

Store director Andy Sanderson said: ‘Things are really started to move forwards for us in the island as we open our fourth store.

‘Opening a new large store is always exciting and challenging and we hope this new store plays a key role in the local community that have been so welcoming to us.

‘We’ve worked in close partnership with local suppliers and the Isle of Man government to ensure we can provide the best service to our customers with great products and value.

‘Over the course of the store openings there’ll be around 120 new jobs created and we want to continue to have a positive impact in the local community through Stronger Starts and food donation programmes.’

Any local groups that would benefit from Tesco Stronger Starts funding are encouraged to apply here: https://tescostrongerstarts.org.uk/

The Community Food Connection scheme is run in partnership with food redistribution charities FareShare and Olio.

Each month three million meals of food are donated across the UK from Tesco stores. To find out about the scheme, please visit: https://www.tescoplc.com/sustainability/product/food-waste/supporting-customers-communities/community-food-connection/

The new store will open at 8am and its future opening hours will be 8am to 11pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 6pm on Sundays.