Beds retailer in recruitment drive for 180 new staff
Accrington-based beds retailer, Bensons for Beds, is recruiting around 180 people nationwide to fill key roles and support growth as it steps up its transformation of the business.
The bed and mattress retailer is looking to fill vacancies across its network of British stores, its four distribution centres, its head office in Accrington, Lancashire, and its dedicated manufacturing site in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
A wide range of roles are on offer including digital jobs, merchandising, drivers, warehouse operatives, customer care specialists, engineering technicians, production operatives, sales consultants and store managers.
The recruitment push has been driven by the transformation of the business since it became a standalone company in 2020 as part of a £20m investment.
The transformation of Bensons’ online offer through its website, as well as the introduction of new technology across the business, has made digital a key area of investment.
There are digital roles available at the head office in Accrington, alongside positions in commercial, marketing, finance and HR.
Other vacancies in key areas include, 10 customer care specialist at the contact centre in Huncoat, Lancashire, more than 80 drivers and warehouse staff at distribution centres in Huncoat, Dagenham, Tewkesbury and Huntingdon, and around 50 retail vacancies at nearly 40 of its 176 stores from Aylesbury to Aberdeen and Bury St Edmonds to Blackpool, with posts from sales consultants to store managers.
In addition, Bensons is creating 24 new roles for mobile sales consultants who will travel between stores from base locations at Livingston, Nottingham, Solihull, Oxford, Stevenage and Kent.
It is also working with organisations including: Career Transition Partnership, to help ex-military personnel into roles such as logistics, engineering and planning; New Futures Networks, to help ex-offenders move into roles such as manufacturing and warehousing; and Job Centre Plus, on pre-employment training for contact centre, production and warehouse roles.
Bensons’ HR director, Maxine Blackwell, said: “The exciting top-to-bottom transformation of Bensons means we need around 180 colleagues to join our team. We’re on the lookout for people who match who we are – devoted, driven and even daring.”
The retailer is also moving into a new store in Workington, Cumbria, as part of its transformation. It has taken a lease at Risman Place, Washington Square shopping centre, in the heart of the town.
The store opens this Thursday, October 21. It has around 5,500 square feet of space and will employ four staff.
The new concept store replaces the existing Bensons store on Workington’s Derwent Howe Industrial Estate, which has been home to Bensons since 1999. The new store was previously occupied by Laura Ashley.
Bensons’ managing director for retail, Alan Williams, said: “Workington is a great location for us and we’re very excited to have the opportunity to move into the town centre, making it more convenient for customers to come in and have a look at our ranges and get advice from our colleagues.”
The store will be run by manager Andrew Dixon, who has been with the business for 20 years.
