Retailer to create 34 jobs at store

THIRTY-FOUR jobs are expected to be created in Widnes this month as The Range moves into the former B&Q site.

The retailer is due to open its new store, at Widnes Trade Park on Dennis Road, on Friday, February 26, having previously announced it was leaving existing premises at Runcorn Shopping City.

A spokesperson for The Range said all of its Runcorn workforce will be retained, and in addition the firm is creating 34 jobs as it moves into a bigger building with more than 43,000 sq ft of space.

The store will also have an outdoor garden centre.

Runcorn Shopping City has said negotiations are under way to find a tenant to move into the Runcorn site, whose lease is still owned by Tesco, which used to have a supermarket in the centre.

The Range sells a variety of household goods and was classed as an essential retailer under the Government’s Covid-19 rules.

B&Q closed the doors at its store in Widnes for the final time in 2016.

Plans were approved the following year for developer Vistra Trust Corporation to turn it into five separate shops, but the project didn’t come to fruition.

The Range is registered to headquarters in Plymouth, where it opened its first store in 1989.