1,300 people battle for six Costa jobs

Costa coffee opens its doors today on Hucknall High Street bringing with it high hopes for further big names to set up shop in the town.
New Costa Coffee opening on Hucknall High Street. l-r are staff members Isaac Thrower, Hayley Sail, Kylie Berz, Hannah Johnson.New Costa Coffee opening on Hucknall High Street. l-r are staff members Isaac Thrower, Hayley Sail, Kylie Berz, Hannah Johnson.
New Costa Coffee opening on Hucknall High Street. l-r are staff members Isaac Thrower, Hayley Sail, Kylie Berz, Hannah Johnson.

The new store has created six jobs, but received over 1,300 applications for the half dozen roles.

But this didn’t come as a huge surprise to Costa franchisee, Sham Ramparia, who runs five other Costa stores.

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“I received over 1,700 applications for the Mapperley store so when I received a similar volume for Hucknall it wasn’t totally unexpected.

“It just shows how many people are unemployed in the area and how tough the job market is.”

Applications were varied, from students to the long-term unemplyed, including many who had been made redundant from retail jobs.

“I am still getting enquiries now,” added Sham. “I just wish I had more jobs to give as the calibre of many of the applicants has been high.”

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The attraction to work in Costa could be their commitment to their employees.

“We pay above the minimum wage and don’t give zero hour contracts,” explained Sham. “We invest time to train our staff to make our hand-made premium drinks so we feel that if we look after our staff they will look after us and our customers.”

The reaction to Costa’s arrival in Hucknall has been met with a mixed response with some competing business owners worried about the effect.

“I don’t believe they should see our arrival as a negative only a positive move,” explained Sham. “I opened a Costa in Lutterworth three years ago where there were 15 empty units- now there is just one.”