Debenhams Provides Wrexham Jobs Boost

Pictured is Sales Manager Andy Ray with Sarah Blackmore, Claire Gill and Gemma Ditcher.

A top department store has given a boost to the local economy with the creation of 22 new jobs in Wrexham.

Debenhams at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre originally took on 40 Christmas temps to cope with the busy festive season.

However, due to business going so well for the store they have since been able to take on 22 of them on both full and part time contracts.

Sales Manager Andy Ray said: “We offer temporary positions in the run up to Christmas because we need extra staff to cope with the demand.

“It’s a chance to impress and secure one of any full or part-time positions we may have available in January.

“Christmas was very busy and to be fair January has been very good too so we were able to retain 22 temporary members of staff on full or part-time contracts.

“We are delighted with the new staff we have taken on and they are all settling well into their new roles. For some it is an ideal opportunity as they have ambitions of a career in retail management.

“Others are happy to work part-time. However, they all have one thing in common and that’s excellent customer service. We look for staff who are pleasant, welcoming and can give our customers that real personal touch.”

Claire Gill, from Ruthin, has just graduated from Preston University with a degree in Retail Management and is delighted to have landed a full-time position at the store.

She said: “I was pleased to land a temporary job in the run-up to Christmas and absolutely thrilled to have been taken on full-time since, I am currently working on the women’s section.

“I am keen to impress and move up the management ladder. Debenhams is a really forward thinking company and I have already been made aware of management courses that will be available to me in the near future.

“I am keen to forge a career in retail management and I working here at Debenhams in Eagles Meadow is a dream start. I love the store and Eagles Meadow has a really nice atmosphere. I am now hoping a long and successful career with Debenhams.”

Another new member of staff is Sarah Blackmore, 24, of Acrefair, who is studying textiles on a part-time Loughborough University course.

She said: “I am delighted to have had the chance to turn what was a temporary position into a more permanent job which I am managing to fit around my part-time studies.”

Jemma Ditcher, 19, of Oswestry, was another to seize the chance of a full-time role following a stint as a Christmas temp.

She said: “I am on a gap year after finishing college and, although I hope to go onto to study medicine next year, I jumped at the chance of working for Debenhams.

“I was unemployed up until I landed a temp position before Christmas so to get the chance of a full time job is brilliant. I am working in children’s clothing which I also really enjoy.”