ONE hundred new retail jobs are set to join the Huntingdon labour market as supermarket giant Tesco expands onto a second floor and into clothing and electrical goods. Since it opened on August 25, 1992, the Huntingdon store in Abbots Ripton Road has been

ONE hundred new retail jobs are set to join the Huntingdon labour market as supermarket giant Tesco expands onto a second floor and into clothing and electrical goods.

Since it opened on August 25, 1992, the Huntingdon store in Abbots Ripton Road has been consistently one of the company's most successful outlets.

"It has been a very successful store, but we have been restricted by the size of the store and the car park," said manager Jason Binks. "Turnover is amazing for the size of the shop."

The store will become a "Tesco Extra", with the mezzanine floor opening in early October to house a new range of clothing and a full range of television and other electrical merchandise.

Access will be by way of a travelator, which has already been installed.

Mr Binks said the range of food on offer had already been expanded, and work was now under way on the dairy, grocery and frozen food sections.

Tesco wants all 100 new staff in place by the end of August to be trained in time for the re-launch in October. Three-quarters of the jobs will be in the new clothing and electrical departments, which will also have dedicated help desks.

The others will be additional cashiers and staff for the expanded food section.

Recruitment will mean the workforce expanding by more than 20 per cent from the present 480 employees. The store itself will increase in size by 40 per cent taking it to 63,000 sq ft.

Local contractors started work on the scheme in February and will be on site for a further 12 weeks. In the meantime, a temporary sales area is open at the side of the store.

Mr Binks said: "We are doing everything we can to minimise disruption to our customers shopping experience and ask that they bear with us during this time. All the work will be completed in time for our official re-launch in October.

"The people of Huntingdon have been hugely supportive since we first opened our store back in 1992. Demand for non-food items has more than doubled in the last few years and Tesco are simply responding to this.

"Staff are on-hand throughout the extension period to help shoppers find their way around the store and I'd like to take this opportunity to re-assure customers that we are working hard to ensure that Huntingdon has a great new look store as soon as possible."

INFORMATION: Anyone interested in working for Tesco should call in at the store on Abbots Ripton Road for an application form.