Iceland plans to bring jobs with new Smethwick shop

The frozen-food retailer has applied to Sandwell Council to open a shop at the Windmills Shopping Centre in Cape Hill.

It is thought the company plans to take over the unit currently occupied by clothing shop Peacocks, which stands yards from an Asda supermarket.

The store will employ 30 part-time staff and five full-time, and be open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, from 8am to 7pm on Saturdays, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays.

The Flintshire-based company has applied to build a new shopfront, and install an air conditioning unit at the rear.

It is the latest store to show an interest in moving to Sandwell.

In October, Poundland opened a shop in Bearwood creating 19 new jobs, while in November, 99p Stores opened a shop in Walsall Road, Great Barr, creating 30 jobs.

But a spokesman for Iceland Foods said that despite the planning application they could neither confirm nor deny that they were planning to open up a store in Smethwick.

Meanwhile, a jewellery firm has become the latest big-name retailer to close a shop in Wolverhampton.

H Samuel, in the city's Wulfrun Centre, has closed its doors following a review of the company's portfolio by bosses.

The company still has another branch in the adjacent Mander Centre as well as one in Park Street, Walsall.

The closure is the latest blow for the city centre and also for the Wulfrun Centre, which lost TK Maxx last year when the clothing and accessories chain moved to Bentley Bridge in Wednesfield.

H Samuel is part of the Signet group. Charlotte Waring, PR executive for Signet, said: "We continually reassess our portfolio of stores on a store-by-store basis.

"This particular closure bears no reflection upon the future plans of the Signet business estate overall within the UK," she added.

"We are sorry to be leaving the Wulfrun Centre in Wolverhampton.

"However, we do have two alternative H Samuel stores nearby."