New outdoors retail jobs for North East
GO Outdoors, the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer, has said it will open three new stores, including one in the North East.
The company said the new stores would form part of an expansion plan that will create 1,000 jobs over the next three years.
It will open a new shop in Stockton-on-Tees in March followed by stores in West Yorkshire and the South East, taking on 150 new members of staff in the process.
The Sheffield-based firm currently has 550 employees working at 11 stores throughout the UK.
GO Outdoors said it was on track to operate 30 stores by the end of 2011, employing 1,550 staff.
The plan is aided by an £18 million refinancing package set up with Bank of Scotland Corporate last year.
John Graham, GO Outdoors managing director, said that the firm has managed to buck the retail recession because of its competitive pricing.
``We have got a much wider product range than our competitors, we advertise a lot, and we have a database of customers who we mail," he said.
Mr Graham said that the credit crunch has worked in the company’s favour because more people were staying in the UK for their holidays. The poor exchange rate works for us because customers might holiday in Scotland rather than Prague. Weather patterns in the UK mean that customers need more demanding equipment, which we supply,`` he said.
David Hunt, director of commercial banking for Bank of Scotland Corporate in Sheffield, brokered the refinancing package last spring.
He said: ``This company is a fantastic example of a retail business that identified a niche and has stuck firmly to a winning formula through a combination of sound business practice linked to an entrepreneurial spirit."
Share
