40 staff affected as UK retailer replaces Co-op Homemaker

Wednesday 03 May 2017

Dunelm, a UK homeware retailer, will be moving into the space currently occupied by Co-op Homemaker on the first floor of the St Helier Grand Marché building. A spokesman for the Co-op said the 40 staff affected, "will be offered the opportunity to apply for a role with Dunelm or an alternative role within the Society.”

Homemaker will be transferring to the new occupiers in June.

Colin Macleod, Chief Executive Officer, The Channel Islands Co-operative Society, said: “We had a number of retailers interested in occupying the current Homemaker space but what attracted us to Dunelm was its commitment to our current Homemaker colleagues; they have assured us that each team member who wishes to continue their career in the home furnishing sector will have the opportunity to apply for a role within the new store.

“This was incredibly important to us and I’m pleased to say that Dunelm are keen to engage with our current team members. We currently employ 40 staff in our Jersey Homemaker operation all of whom will be offered the opportunity to apply for a role with Dunelm or an alternative role within the Society.”

"This is an opportunity to reshape our business for the future and modernise the ground floor of St Helier to provide a clear and comprehensive food and non-food offering to our members. It means we can protect core homeware ranges and enhance the member offer by applying bonus dividend to those products on a Tuesday and Wednesday.”

Dunelm, which employs 9,000 people across 160 stores nationwide, was established 30 years ago when Bill and Jean Adderley opened a home textiles business offering a wide range of products at affordable prices, in Leicester.  Today the business has a strong online retail presence.

Leonie Foster, Marketing Director for Dunelm, said: "We are delighted to be bringing a new Dunelm store to Jersey. Dunelm offers fantastic value on a wide range of Homewares and prides itself on great customer service. We are therefore very pleased to be able to offer existing Homemaker colleagues the opportunity to apply for new roles with us and we look forward to opening later in the summer."

Senator Lyndon Farnham, Minister for Economic Development in Jersey, said: "It’s fantastic news for the island that a well-regarded UK retailer sees Jersey as a good place to invest in jobs and the island’s future economy and, in doing so providing more choice for island consumers."

Mr Macleod added: “The introduction of a respected UK homeware provider, who can benefit from scale that we cannot access, means it is the right decision not only for the Society but also the island."