Quick thinking is just the job

B&M Bargains’ new recruits ready to greet their first customers at the opening of the new store

Forty local job hunters started their careers in retail this week thanks to a quick thinking recruitment service.

When they heard that B&M Bargains were opening a new store in Rochdale, Rochdale Borough Council’s Employment Links Partnership offered to help - and ended up finding all their new recruits.

Employment Links Partnership Recruitment and Training Broker, Nick Dale said: “We approached B&M Bargains in July when we heard they were interested in taking over the former Woolworths store on Yorkshire Street and we offered to help them find the ideal recruits for their new store. For us the opportunity to help unemployed local people into work was too good to miss.

“B&M Bargains’ manager Kelly Mather was very enthusiastic about the idea and since then it’s been a whirl of activity agreeing job roles, finding suitable candidates and vetting CVs.

“It all culminated in interviews over 4 days in August at our offices when the store recruited 40 people to a whole host of jobs including supervisors, sales assistants and till workers.”

B&M Bargains is a rapidly expanding company with more than 190 stores across the UK. It specialises in top brands at low prices with products ranging from food and drink to health, beauty, seasonal and household goods. Based in Blackpool, the company now employs more than 5000 staff and its stores attract more than a million customers a week.

Rochdale Borough Council’s cabinet member for skills and economic recovery, Councillor Keith Swift said: “I’m delighted for the new recruits. They now have a fantastic opportunity to embark on new jobs and careers with a fast-growing successful company. I’m also pleased that the council through our Employment Links Partnership has shown a company, new to the borough, that we’ve got plenty of high calibre potential employees enthusiastic about making their business a success.”

Employment Links offers a free recruitment service to all new and existing businesses in the borough, call 01706 646471 for details.