Negotiations to start on jobs at new Tesco store

Council bosses in Cannock are set to begin negotiations with Tesco about recruitment for 300 jobs which will be created by the new Hednesford store-on-stilts.

Supermarket chiefs will be leaned upon to give priority to the unemployed and the young. Discussions are due to start in the next week. Some 600 jobs in total will be created across the development which will also see a parade of non-food shops established.

The store is due to be completed by the end of the year in time for a Christmas opening.

Glenn Watson, economic development manager for Cannock Chase, said the authority would be asking Tesco about the form and timescale of its recruitment programme.

"Some of the job opportunities could well be attractive to young people and it is important to all of us that very serious consideration be given to this group," he told a meeting of Hednesford Community Forum.

Council leader George Adamson said Tesco had promised at the outset that most of the jobs would go to local people from Hednesford and Chadsmoor.

Local agencies, such as Job Centre Plus, will be involved in the discussions. Mr Watson said the council also wanted to bring South Staffordshire College in on the negotiations.

"It is one of the things we agreed with Tesco some time ago, and it is their policy as a company to look to recruit people in those categories," he added. The council will be monitoring the recruitment process and asking to see files as evidence that the policy is being followed.

Mr Watson said phase two of the scheme was progressing well with the ground now flattened and cleared for the supermarket which will be elevated to accommodate a car park beneath.

Victoria Street has been closed to allow the work to continue but is on schedule to reopen by the end of next month. Talks were also taking place about the design and function of the new Aquarius Ballroom which will replace the original 60-year-old venue in Victoria Street that had to be bulldozed as part of the scheme.