Adventure loving Claire Vinall has landed her dream job – as the new manager of an outdoor store.
Claire, 34, spends her time away from work taking part in fresh air activities like camping and canoeing.
So she was thrilled when she was appointed as the boss of Trespass at Eagles Meadow Shopping Centre in Wrexham which sells all the kit she loves using for her favourite hobbies.
Claire said: “When I’m not working my partner and I love to go camping as some lovely out-of- the way spots, such as near Lake Bala here in North Wales or farther afield in the Lake District or Scotland.
“I’ve also just taken up canoeing which I’m enjoying very much and we do that in various places in North Wales.
“The shop here at Eagles Meadow already sells a great range of camping equipment and outdoor clothing but I want to give it an even stronger outdoor feel.
“That’s why we’re getting an expert to design a new window display with a bushcraft theme, which will be very colourful and exciting.
“Another of my ideas is to have an inflatable canoe hanging from the ceiling of the shop over the tents and camping equipment area.”
Claire lives in Wrexham but is originally from the North Wales coastal town of Old Colwyn in Conwy county.
After leaving a local school she enrolled at Coleg Llandrillo to take art and design and business studies plus motor vehicle engineering and spray painting and bodywork.
She put this diverse range of skills to work when she opened her own repair garage specialising in motorbikes and quadbikes based on Wrexham Industrial Estate.
After two years she opted for a change of scene and went into retail by becoming manager at Clintons card shop at Eagles Meadow where she stayed for over six years.
In her new role as manager of Trespass she heads up a team of five full and part-time staff who she says make a great team.
Claire, who has also just started learning some Bruce Lee moves for the martial art Jeet Kune Do, added: “I have quite a few things in mind to improve the store as I can see plenty of potential here.
“I know from my experience of managing another store at Eagles Meadow that it’s a great place to be and has some good customer footfall, so I’m really looking forward to the new challenge of taking over at Trespass.”
Eagles Meadow manager Kevin Critchley said: “I am delighted that Claire has landed her dream job.
“Her love of the outdoors and her background in retail mean she’s a perfect fit for Trespass.”
