TESCO has confirmed that its new store in Bournemouth will create 151 jobs – with 16 going to long-term unemployed people.

The new supermarket in Wimborne Road, Kinson, is due to open in January and manager Trevor Henstridge has been working with Job Centres and the Prince’s Trust during the recruitment process.

Trevor said: “Playing a positive role in the local community is important to us, which is why we wanted to make sure that we created new job opportunities for people of all backgrounds in Kinson and give equal opportunities to those who may have been unemployed for a while.

“We offered trial work days to each long-term unemployed person who applied through the Job Centres so that they could gain first-hand experience of working in a Tesco store to help strengthen their applications and increase their self-confidence.”

Nearly 900 people applied for the roles at the new store and with his senior management team, Trevor conducted 760 interviews to recruit the new team.

“We had such a broad range of applicants from cake makers to army veterans and insurance officers to a make-up artist.

“It was really interesting to find out more about the local community of Kinson as we’ve spoken to people from such interesting backgrounds.

“It will be great to see how everyone uses their life experiences to work together as part of the new Tesco Kinson team,” added Trevor.

The new employees will join 24 Tesco colleagues who will be transferring from other stores, bringing the total number of staff to 175.

Nearby Tesco stores, including Tesco Extra Bournemouth and Tesco Ferndown as well as other stores across the Bournemouth area are currently training the new recruits.

The process has also seen Sally Teixeira appointed as the supermarket’s Community Champion.