The Bradley Stoke Journal

Sandwich outlet Subway has finally given official confirmation that it is to open a new store in Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre. The Subway shop will occupy unit 1 in the main mall building, giving it a frontage onto the new Town Square.

The shop is set to open on Monday 13th October, along with the new Tesco Extra store and several other stores in the shopping mall and Town Square of the Willow Brook Centre.

The company is looking a for Sandwich Artists and Managers to staff its new store. Full and part time positions with varying shift patterns are available. A recruitment open day will be held at the new store on Friday 10th October.

More details of all the vacancies at the Willow Brook Centre can be found on The Journal’s dedicated New Town Centre Jobs page.

Plans circulated at yesterday’s meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer & Stronger Community Group revealed previously unannounced tenants of the Willow Brook Centre, Bradley Stoke’s new town centre development.

UK mobile phone group O2 is shown as occupying a store in the Centre’s shopping mall, while sandwich maker Subway (already advertising for staff) is seen to occupy the mall unit closest to the new Town Square.

Tenants in phase two of the development, which includes a “retail terrace” (now seemingly consisting of six rather than five non-food retail units) plus further shops and offices on the north-western side of the Town Square, are seen to include Brantano (shoes), Ladbrokes (betting shop) and Westworld (mobility & lifestyle).

The new stores are yet to appear in the store guide shown on the official Willow Brook Centre website.

Phase one of the development is due to open on Monday 13th October, with phase two following in July 2009.

More information in The Journal’s guide to new stores at the Willow Brook Centre.

Costa Coffee is the latest organisation to advertise for jobs at the Willow Brook Centre, Bradley Stoke’s new town centre development.

The company is looking for Assistant Managers and Team Members to staff its new store that is due to open later this month in the new Town Square.

Working hours are said to be flexible, with “full and part-time hours available during the week and weekends.”

Elsewhere, Greggs the Bakers, also opening in the Town Square, are still looking for staff. The company held a recruitment day on Saturday at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, where a member of staff told The Journal that a number of part-time positions remain to be filled.

More details of all the vacancies at the Willow Brook Centre can be found on The Journal’s dedicated New Town Centre Jobs page.

Tesco plc has announced the appointment of Oliver Hill as manager of the new Tesco Extra store that is set to open on Monday 13th October at Bradley Stoke’s new Willow Brook Centre.

Mr Hill has been with Tesco for eleven years and hails from Surrey. He now lives locally and has recently been running the recruitment centre for the new Bradley Stoke store.

In a press release put out by Freedman Brown Communications on behalf on Tesco, Mr Hill says:

“I am aiming to deliver the Tesco values including giving our customers fantastic service and low prices and providing a wide range of quality products. Customers will see a clean bright and spacious brand new store with fast and friendly customer service.”

The new Tesco Extra store will include a range of non-food departments, fresh food, deli, fish counter, olive bar, meat counter, hot chicken take away, adults and children’s clothing, a travel money desk, telecoms shop, photo lab and electrical department. It will also have a pharmacy and opticians.

There will be over 15,000 different products on offer and 40 checkouts to cope with demand from shoppers.

The new store will employ over 600 people, compared to the 299 that work at the existing Tesco store on the site.

The Journal has learned that a Special Meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council is to be held next Tuesday, 30th September, at 6pm.

The meeting, which will be conducted in closed session on the grounds of “commercial sensitivity”, is said to have a single topic on the agenda: “To consider the Town Centre Development”.

Mayor Robert Jones told us:

“I hope that we will be able to make a significant announcement at the Safer & Stronger Community Group later that evening.”

The Safer & Stronger Community Group meeting referred to by Cllr Jones takes place at Bradley Stoke Community School (7pm start).

With the opening of Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre now less than three weeks away, more job vacancies have been advertised by tenants of the new development.

1st Equity, who will be opening an agency for the Nationwide Building Society, is looking for a part-time Customer Sales Adviser. The firm is part of 1st Group UK, a financial services company based in the south west. The hourly rate for this position will be dependent on experience.

Sandwich outlet Subway, still to be officially confirmed as a tenant, is said to be looking for 20 staff at its store in the new town centre. Adverts for a Store Manager, Supervisors and Sandwich Makers have appeared on the Bristol Gumtree website. The Store Manager position comes with a salary of £22,000 plus bonus.

Greggs the Bakers are holding a recruitment day this Saturday (27th September) between 9am and 3pm at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre. The company is seeking part-time assistants for its new store and is offering £6.07ph (after training).

More details of all the vacancies can be found on The Journal’s dedicated New Town Centre Jobs page.

Budget footwear retailer Shoe Zone is the latest company to reveal it will be opening a store in the Willow Brook Centre, Bradley Stoke’s new town centre development.

Although there has been no official statement by the centre management, the Shoe Zone store was today added to the store guide shown on the official Willow Brook Centre website, where the outfit is described as being the “number one value footwear retailer”.

Information on the Shoe Zone website shows that the company currently has over 600 stores throughout the UK and Ireland and sells over 19 million pairs of shoes every year.

The retailer is seeking an Assistant Manager for its new Bradley Stoke store. More details on The Journal’s dedicated New Town Centre Jobs page.