John Lewis to open Didsbury call centre

John Lewis, the UK department store market leader with three outlets in the North West, has confirmed it will open a new call centre next year in Didsbury.

The new call centre will be based at Scotscroft on the Towers Business Park, serving the north of England, and will create 240 jobs for the local area.

The company, owned by its staff through a mutual partnership, has stores in Cheadle, Trafford Centre and Liverpool.

The centre will be located four miles from John Lewis's Cheadle store and is set to open in September 2010.

Maggie Porteous, managing director of John Lewis Trafford and John Lewis Cheadle, said: "We're pleased to be able to announce the location of our contact centre in south Manchester and look forward to welcoming new Partners to the Didsbury operation when it opens next year."

Colin Sinclair, chief executive of inward investment agency Midas, added: "We were delighted to assist John Lewis in its decision to select Didsbury for its contact centre for the north and the creation of 240 important jobs.

"This excellent news underlines the strength of the Manchester offer of a skilled and flexible workforce, great connectivity and a diverse and attractive property portfolio that meets the needs of business and continues to attract such key investors to our city region."

A second contact centre is also opening in Hamilton, South East of Glasgow. Both contact centres will be staffed by John Lewis Partners but jobs are being cut in stores among people who currently do similar work.