Co-op brings glad tidings for jobless (From Western Telegraph)

Co-op brings glad tidings for jobless

Fifty new jobs are to be created in South Pembrokeshire at a new £8 million supermarket.

The Co-operative Group on Monday unveiled plans for a new showpiece store at Kilgetty.

If planners given their blessing, the new supermarket will be more than twice the size of the companys existing store in Carmarthen Road.

The announcement comes just months after the Co-operative Group closed its supermarket at Haverfordwest with the loss of 54 jobs. It had blamed the closure of the Riverside Quay store on poor performance but had insisted that the future of its remaining Pembrokeshire outlets was safe.

As yet no buyer has been found for what is regarded as a prime town centre site.

On Monday, the company confirmed that the new Kilgetty store would employ around 120 staff. The proposed 25,000 square foot supermarket would bring a new era in retail service to the Kilgetty area, offering modern, spacious shopping facilities and a comprehensive product range to meet all the food shopping needs of the community, said its spokeswoman.

The plans were submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council on Friday. If planning permission is granted, the existing store will be demolished and the area incorporated into the car park. All 70 staff would transfer to the new store.

Said the Co-operative Groups regional chief officer, David Mockford: The new store would enable the Co-op to provide a much larger, spacious and modern shopping environment as well as more product choice which would meet all the food shopping needs of the community, helping to retain shoppers in Kilgetty and maintaining the vibrancy of the town centre.