In brief: Cake jobs; Fresh boost & more

LUXURY cake and cafe operator Patisserie Valerie is opening a 2,300 sq ft unit in St George’s Shopping Centre in Preston, creating 20 new jobs.

The opening, the first in Lancashire, will be  on October 22.

St George’s Shopping Centre general manager, Andrew Stringer, said: “Welcoming Patisserie Valerie to St George’s demonstrates the centre’s ability to attract leading brands. “

Paul May, chief executive of Patisserie Holdings, said: “We’re really excited about opening our Preston café, especially as it’s our first to open in Lancashire.  Customers have been asking us to come to the city for a while now, and we believe St George’s Shopping Centre is the perfect place to open as it’s accessible to so many. We hope the people of Preston enjoy our new store.”

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CHEADLE-based Fresh Group has won a competitive pitch involving four agencies, to deliver motor manufacturer Hyundai’s 2016 dealer conference.

The event will take place in January at the Park Plaza Hotel, Westminster Bridge, London and will be attended by 400 delegates from across the country.

It will be the first event that Fresh will have delivered for Hyundai.

Managing director Patrick Howells said: “This is a very important event for Hyundai during a significant period of ongoing development for their business. To be appointed to deliver this project is a great achievement that is testament to our strategy to develop our automotive service offering further as we move into 2016.”

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TRAFFORD Park-based  clothing supplier Clothes2order is celebrating after winning two accolades within a week.

The firm, which supplies customised clothing for uniforms, promotions and events, has been named the UK’s medium-sized ecommerce company of the year at the eCommerce Awards for Excellence 2015.    Days earlier, the firm scooped a regional accolade in the 2015 Chamber Awards, for the best use of technology to improve business performance.

Managing director Michael Conway said: “Our investment in technology has resulted in major improvements to the service we provide to our customers and to our business performance and we are delighted that the progress we have made over the past 12 months has been recognised with two awards in quick succession.”