With Next set to open their largest Scottish store at Straiton this Summer, job hunters are now being urged to apply for vacancies.
When Next Plc’s new superstore opens its doors in the Peel Pentland Centre (aka Straiton Retail Park) this July, it will become the company’s largest shop in the country and third largest in the United Kingdom, encompassing not only an improved range of clothing and homewares but also three new concessions, the jewellers Beaverbrooks, stationery shop Paperchase and coffee chain Costa.
Next’s third move within the retail park in five years will double their available floorspace, bringing with it many new jobs.
For Beaverbrooks it is a momentous occasion. Their 500 sq.ft concession within the 80,000 sq.ft unit, will be their tenth store in Scotland and their first concession in the UK. Situated on the ground floor, by the womenswear, the new shop-in-shop will showcase a range of top brand jewellery and watches from the likes of Hugo Boss, Thomas Sabo, Michael Kors and Armani, alongside Beaverbrooks’ own diamond range. Speaking about the opening, the CEO of Beaverbrooks, Anna Blackburn said:
Next is a great brand fit with Beaverbrooks and we are well aligned in terms of providing the best customer service and product. We’ve been working with the company for the last four years through the directory and Next.co.uk and we opened our first retail venture with Next at Birmingham Fort in 2012, which continues to perform well.
We’re well known in our nearby Gyle and Fort Kinnaird stores and believe that the Next store at Straiton Retail Park is the perfect location to launch our first concession store, to reach new customers and deliver an exceptional shopping experience.
We look forward to opening our doors in July and are extremely optimistic about the future success of our first concession, which is located in one of Next’s biggest out-of-town units in the UK.
Beaverbrooks are currently looking to fill a variety of Sales Consultant vacancies, from sixteen to thirty-two hours per week. The company prides itself on being one of The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For, for thirteen years. To see the full list of vacancies and to apply click here.
Also hiring now is Paperchase. Often found in upmarket locations and department stores like Selfridges and Galeries Lafayette, the innovative stationery shop aims to excite and inspire through their “stylish stationery, unique greeting cards and distinctive gifts”. Their 755 sq.ft concession will be their first within a Next store and shall be located on the first floor between menswear and home furniture. The company are currently looking for a full time Concession Manager to head up the shop-in-shop. Further jobs will be released once this position is filled. For more details, click here.
Next PLC themselves are also hiring eight Sales Consultants with a variety of hours and departments available. These positions can be found here. Costa Coffee are yet to release any jobs but they should be available soon.
The new unit at 20 Straiton Mains has been gutted since the company acquired it from Homebase last year and transformed into a light and modern space with curtain glazing to the newly formed car parking on the former garden centre land. In a nod to the previous design, Next has replaced the northern signage tower with a tall glazed volume that will bear their logo once complete. New car parking spaces will also be formed on the Sainsbury’s side of the unit but there will be no access from the south. The building will shortly be watertight and internal works are already evident.
In response to rumours that Homebase may be looking to reopen in the park, the DIY chain told us that “they have no current plans to reopen in Straiton Retail Park”, this is despite permission being given in February to convert the now vacant Brantano and former Next units into a DIY store and garden centre, supposedly for the retailer. It is unknown if these units will now be filled. On the upper tier, Tapi Carpets are set to open beside the current, and soon to be vacant, Next.