Date set for town's new store

A new £18 million DIY store will open in Shrewsbury early next year creating 70 jobs. The B&Q store will open on January 30 at the corner of Featherbed Lane and Battlefield Road.

Thirty staff from the old store in Brixton Way will also move to the new site when it closes on January 29.

The new store features a garden centre, builder's yard and parking for more than 500 cars.

Store manager Matthew Brooks said: "We are going to have about 100 staff.

"We have just taken on 70 people from the Shrewsbury area and they are beginning to start with us at the moment to fill up the store.

"The other 30 jobs come from transfers from our existing store.

"On January 30, we have got a number of events taking place. They are still being booked up at the moment."

B&Q submitted plans for the store in 2006 and began building in March this year.

Mr Brooks said he was not worried about opening at the time of the credit crunch.

"Yes, the store will have more of a challenge than before but we have reflected that in the amount of people we have recruited," he added.

"The interesting thing about DIY is that if everybody is buying houses it's fantastic but if they are not moving for a while, then they start to consolidate where they are so that works pretty well."

l More than 30 jobs will be created in Bridgnorth when a new Marks & Spencer Simply Food Store opens next month.

Marks & Spencer will open the Simply Food store in St John's Street, Low Town, on December 2.