 | | The queue at 10am |
Fashion retailer Primark is opening a new store in Wolverhampton, in the Wulfrun Centre, where Littlewoods once traded. The new shop needs 130 staff - mostly full and part-time sales assistants. The recruitment day for the new store was held at the Britannia Hotel in Lichfield Street. By 10am the queue for an interview stretched from the entrance of the hotel around the corner to the rear of the Grand Theatre and was still growing.
 | | The queue at 10am |
The queue contained people of all working ages, clutching their applicant forms. Students Tariq and Tim, both 19 and both from Wolverhampton, were looking for weekend jobs. Tariq said: "There's not many jobs in Wolverhampton - but I possess the skills to get a job." Hilary from Wolverhampton was also in the queue. She agreed with Tariq about the lack of jobs; "That's right - nothing. I've been looking for twelve months and two days. There's too many agencies."
 | | Hilary (right) and friend |
Another lady, who has worked through employment agencies, picked up on what Hilary said, saying; "Agencies are a huge problem - you're in work, you're out of work, you're in work you're out of work - most people want stability in their life. There's no stability with agencies. Your contract comes to an end and you're back in the dole queue - which is not what you want, is it? "You want to be able to pay your bills every week and not fill in forms for this benefit, that benefit, the other benefit. "I'm looking for a day job and this is a perfect opportunity - big company, plenty of prospects. I'd go for cashier, shop floor work, trainee manager - whatever. If there's a vacancy there, I'll take it."
 | | Julia Jackson |
The recruitment day was organised by Primark in partnership with the Job Centre and Wolverhampton College. At the head of the queue was Julia Jackson, a recruitment officer for Wolverhampton college. She said; "We've been working with Job Centre Plus for a number of years and this is a fantastic turn-out. "It was the same with New Look. We had had a fantastic turn-out for their recruitment day, too. "It's fantastic to see so many people here looking for full and part time work - by 10am we've seen 300 hundred people already."
 | | The queue at 10am |
Are there no jobs in Wolverhampton? Why is the queue so big? "It's local jobs for local people, basically. Retail is booming, employers want to use Wolverhampton and we can supply trained people to get the vacancies. Wolverhampton is changing! "This is the main recruitment day for Primark; after today - if there are any vacancies, they could possibly use the college to sift more applications. "Primark will be open by November the 8th, obviously there's going to be induction and training between now and then."
 | | The queue at 10am |
Back to the job hunters. Anthea was at the back of the queue for an interview - she wants to be a shop assistant. She said: "There are so many people here because Primark are recruiting and they are a very nice store to work for. They offer good job prospects and wages - you can move up on the ladder. There is high unemployment in Wolverhampton at the moment." Did she think she was going to get the job? "Well I've just got to hope and be confident that I will get it." | 
