Andover's Katie Piper was one of a host of famous faces who officially opened a new Garmin shop in Southampton.

The technology and accessories outlet opened to the public in Westquay shopping centre on Wednesday, November 6, making it the first Garmin store to open in the UK.

To celebrate the opening of the new store, five Garmin ambassadors viewed the store for the first time at a special launch event before taking part in a question-and-answer session.

Former Manchester United and England goalkeeper Ben Foster, television presenter and activist Katie Piper, and former Olympian Iwan Thomas were among the high-profile names in attendance.

They were joined by internet personalities Mia Baker and Katie Kookaburra.

The event saw the famous faces mingle with staff and representatives of Garmin, with a DJ playing a selection of music numbers in an atmosphere comparable with that of a nightclub, before proceedings turned more formal.

Television presenter and author, Katie Piper (centre) and former Olympian, Iwan Thomas (right) at Garmin's launch event in West Quay (Image: Matt Davey) Managing director of Garmin UK and Ireland, Jon Oliver, also delivered a speech at the event, remarking why Southampton was chosen to host the first Garmin store in the country.

He said: “It’s a very proud moment to open our first UK-based store in Southampton.

“In 1989 we opened our UK headquarters in Romsey, where we outgrew that pretty quickly and moved to Totton, which is a great place on the edge of the New Forest.

“Southampton has always been really central to what we do as a global business and we’re proud to support charities, clubs, and associations in the area – so, when we were looking for our first UK store, Southampton was an obvious choice.”

The Garmin UK managing director also outlined his three key reasons why he thinks the new store will be a success.

He said: “We wanted to set up a store locally and there’s three reasons why we think it will be a success.

“First of all – the customer experience – we have a massive range of products, customers will have the opportunity to view and touch all of our products that are switched on live in any colour, finish, or material they want.

“Secondly – availability – all our products are in stock. Thirdly, it’s our service, we have a really good team of people who help our customers and support their journey.”