Workers back at Yale, queueing for shop jobs

With 320 posts up for grabs, there was always going to be a rush from eager jobhunters.

But unprecedented scenes greeted a recruitment day for the Black Country's newest supermarket, with around 2,000 people vying for jobs – including some that previously worked at the lock factory which the store has now replaced.

At least three former employees of Yale Locks were among the queues hoping to gain employment with Morrisons, which is currently being built on the site of the factory in Wood Street, Willenhall.

Brothers Geoff Pearson, aged 63, and Reg Pearson, aged 59, along with pal Terrence Bull, aged 54, said it was somewhat ironic they were now desperate to work at the £30million supermarket after failing to get full-time jobs since the factory shut in 2007 to pave the way for the new store.

Geoff Pearson, of Condover Close, Willenhall, said: "We all worked at Yale until September 2007 when we were made redundant. Now we are all queueing to go back when it becomes a Morrisons store. It all seems very strange."

Mr Bull, of Livingstone Road, Bloxwich, said he had struggled to find work since losing the job he had loved for years.

"There is not a lot out there. I have done some seasonal work but that is all it is and I need something more permanent," he said.

Joining them at the new Walsall College campus in Littleton Street West yesterday, were other victims of the recession. Many were queuing from 7am, three hours before the event was due to begin.

Amanda Pitt, aged 40, of Tyler Road, Willenhall, worked at Woolworths in Park Street, Walsall, before its closure in December last year. It reopened as TJ Hughes last week, employing at least three former Woolworths workers. Amanda wasn't one of them.

"I worked at Woolworths for two years but I have been out of work since it shut," she said. "I have applied for other jobs but nothing has come of it, now I just want to get back into work."

John Colley, aged 35, of Queens Street, Bilston, was put out of work at the end of January by West Bromwich based Stanford Concrete Flooring.

He said: "I was let go as part of cutbacks at my previous employers and have not had any work since then. I am open to anything at all."

Gregg Cooper, aged 34, from Willenhall, worked in powder coating at George Carter (Pressings) Ltd in Willenhall. The firm, which had bases in Clothier Street and Park Road, shut in May this year after going into administration following 179 years in the town.

Mr Cooper said: "It has been about five months now and I have not had any other work, I really don't mind what I do as along as its work and I am getting paid."

Yesterday's was the second recruitment day for the store, which is due to open in January. Managers were appointed following a successful search last month. A second trawl was taking place again today at the college, with around the same numbers expected.

Morrisons personnel manager Kay Morgan said: "There has been a massive response. We have already taken on 46 people for management posts and we are now looking for 320 people for all sorts of positions in the store. The numbers yesterday were huge, around 2,000 people, and we are expecting a similar amount of today."

More than 150 workers are busily putting Morrisons' giant structure in place. The roof on the grey and yellow-trimmed building has now been completed, with yellow-jacketed workers now concentrating on putting the internal walls in place.

Work on the adjoining petrol station has also begun. The scheme, which supermarket bosses say is "well on track", will also include a 542-space car park and a mixture of family homes and flats.

New footpaths will be created to the town's central shopping zone, while a new link road will be created between Walsall Street and Wood Street to ease congestion.

A £40,000 artwork, The Kindnesses of Willenhall, will adorn one of the outside walls.