Retail giant Debenhams have taken on a bumper crop of 46 temporary staff to deal with the Christmas rush at their flagship store in Swansea’s Quadrant Centre.
The new influx of recruits have already been trained up and are out on the shop floor as shoppers start the tills ringing for Christmas.
It takes the number of people working at the store over the 350 mark which makes Debenhams and its associated concessions one of the biggest employers in Swansea’s city centre.
Debenhams Store Manager Nigel Stopher, who began his own career with Debenhams as a Saturday boy in his native Bristol, said: “It’s certainly a significant number and is about the norm for us at this time of year which shows that trade here is holding up very well.
“We have had them in for the last two weeks to ensure they are well trained ahead of this week which is a major one for us with the offers starting so it is important that they are ready for that.
“We have also modified our training slightly so that it is more shop floor orientated and we have done more of the training out there and in the stock rooms and dressing rooms.
“We’re even including training on the new instore computers because now, even if we don’t have something in stock in the size a customer wants, we have four on-line terminals where they can be ordered directly and delivered to the customer free of charge.
“It’s all very much focused on the customer and we talk to them about customer service and give them examples of the feedback we have from our shoppers plus the store is pretty massive so they need some time to find out where everything is.
“And we always ask for feedback from the temps and they have said they have enjoyed the fact that it’s on the shop floor – after all that’s where we want them.”
Debenhams, Swansea, Training Officer Tina Hardwicke, is from Morriston and has been at the store for 19 years after starting as a Christmas temp herself.
She said: “We are very thorough and each recruit has three full days of training on induction, tills etc before they even hit the shop floor.
“I have worked in most of the departments of the store so I have plenty of experience but I also have specialists here who can train them in every area of our operations.
“I love working in training, I enjoy seeing them all when they’ve had their training and how well they’re doing the job and then they enjoy it too.”
Nigel Stopher added: “I know of store managers who began as Christmas temps so it can be a real stepping stone to a career and it’s good for their confidence and for them to learn about the world of work.
“They have all done well to be accepted because the selection process is rigorous with an on-line application to our Human Resources department in Taunton and a telephone interview before they even get through to an interview here.”
Andrew Haddow, 21, from Swansea, an Economics graduate, is working in menswear, the second busiest department at Christmas after cosmetics, and he said: “I’ve really enjoyed the training and I’d like to work here full-time.
“It’s great when it’s really busy and the staff and the manager in my department have been great and very helpful.”
Natasha Jenkins, 20, from Gorseinon, is in womenswear, and she added: “The training has been excellent. It’s always busy here and there’s always something to do.”
Her colleague, Hannah Davies, 25, is from Vancouver, in Canada, and she said: “My parents are from the area originally and I’m staying over here and it’s been really good.
“I’d like to work in retail so I’m hoping I can stay on after Christmas.”
Quadrant Centre Manager Alan Wallace said: “Debenhams is the largest store here but almost all the shops take on extra staff at Christmas and this year there seems to be a healthy number of recruits so that is an encouraging sign.
“The Centre is full, we don’t have any vacant units, so that adds up to a lot of people employed here and means that the Quadrant is an important and vibrant part of the local economy.”
