The Range to open in former B&Q store in Exmouth

Eighty jobs are coming to Exmouth after The Range confirmed it will be opening a new store later this year.

The Range, a home, leisure and garden retail chain, will be based at Liverton Business Park in the former B&Q Exmouth branch building.

The jobs will be a mix of full-time and part-time roles.

A Range spokesperson confirmed the move, saying: “The Range will be opening a new store at Liverton Business Park later this year.

“The store in Exmouth will also include an outdoor garden centre.”

B&Q’s Exmouth branch had been trading for more than 20 years before closing in November 2015.

The planned closure of the store was initially announced in April 2015, for a date sometime in 2016, which was then brought forward to November of last year.

B&Q announced in March 2015 it would be closing 60 UK stores during the following two years.

At the time, company bosses said they hoped to minimise redundancies by redeploying employees within other parts of B&Q and parent company Kingfisher.

Ian MacQueen, chairman of the Exmouth Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the arrival of The Range.

He said: “This is brilliant news. It shows that Exmouth is a forward-thinking town. Big retailers want to come to places like that.

“My message to people in Exmouth, who are looking for work, is to make a name for themselves by writing to their chief executive, Chris Dawson.”

Mr Dawson started off as a market trader in Plymouth and opened The Range’s first store in 1989, at Sugar Mill Business Park in Billacombe Road, Plymouth.

He was ranked number 77 on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2014.

The businessman is stated as being worth £1.28billion, up from £695million just three years ago. He is the third richest person in the South West.

Mr Dawson said, in February 2015, that he wanted to open 1,000 stores across Europe.

Source : Lewis Deakin - Exmouth Journal
www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/big_exmouth_jobs_boost_with_new_store_1_4504443

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