There’s some early Christmas cheer on the jobs front in Wrexham.
The Debenhams department store at the busy Eagles Meadow shopping centre has taken on 40 extra staff to cope with the festive rush – with five more vacancies to fill.
Working as a Christmas temp can lead to a permanent job and a successful career in retail, according to store manager Rob Mannix.
And Rob should know. That’s how he started 13 years ago at the Debenhams store in Guildford, Surrey – and he hasn’t looked back since.
The timing of the recruitment campaign was, he said, crucial as it coincides with the store’s Christmas Spectacular sale which gets underway on Wednesday (November 16).
Rob added: “The run-up to Christmas if phenomenally important to us and it sets us up for the year ahead.
“We’ve taken on some really great people at a time where a lot of other businesses are letting people go, so hopefully we’re helping to bring some Christmas cheer to Wrexham.
“Some of our recruits have been unemployed for a while now, but equally we’ve had people that have been laid off recently from industries such as the banking industry and things like that.
“These are people who bring fantastic skills, and they’re all people who want to work, they want to be here. They don’t want to sit at home, they want to get out and be out there doing something and that’s great.
“We will be looking to keep some people on where we can in the New Year – we are certainly not in a position where we want to get rid of any good members of staff.
“So, for some people it could be the beginning of a whole new career. I myself started as a Christmas temporary member of staff 13 years ago.”
“Since then I’ve worked in some great places, including Oxford, Chester and York. and now I’ve settled in Wrexham which is fantastic.
“We work quite closely with the Job Centre with whom we’ve built up a good relationship.
“Every year when we’re recruiting we always invite some job centre candidates in to an assessment centre where we screen them and interview them individually with a view to taking on as many as we can.”
“Everyone needs to start back somewhere, and the longer you are out of work the harder it is to get a job.
“When you’re in a business like us who are willing to give people a chance then I think it really helps, both the individual and the local area as well.”
Among the recruits is John Baksh, 58, Llangollen, who is semi-retired.
He said: “I have always worked in retail. I’m quite active and I can’t imagine myself sitting at home watching TV all day, so it’s ideal.”
