THE MAYOR of Dorchester has welcomed the job boost provided by a new-look store in the county town.

The Currys store in Weymouth Avenue has been revamped and upgraded to offer a ‘three-in one store’, with the Currys PC World also featuring an in-store Carphone Warehouse.

The move has meant investment for the town’s store and more than doubled the workforce from 12 to 24.

A special opening event was held, with prizes for the staff who worked so hard to put get the new-look store ready for its official opening as well as for the first customers to the store.

Mayor of Dorchester Cllr Tim Harries and his mayoress Anita Harries attended the event, with the mayor having the honour of cutting the ribbon to officially declare the new store open.

Before carrying out his ceremonial duty, Cllr Harries addressed staff at the store, saying he was delighted to hear that the revamp had created new jobs for Dorchester.

He added: “Congratulations on your opening, I’m sure it will be a huge success.

“As you all know, Dorchester is bucking the trend throughout the country and has done so for some time.

“It is a thriving town and I think it’s going to continue like that thanks for people like your good selves.”

Store manager Dave Morgan said he thought the new store looked “absolutely fantastic” and thanked all those people who had been working tirelessly on the revamp and getting it all ready for the big day.

He said even before the doors had opened the store had already had around a dozen items reserved for collection so he was looking forward to a busy start to trading.

Mr Morgan said: “The company is rolling out these three-in-one stores right cross the country and in Dorchester we spent no money here really for about 25 years since we opened so we are absolutely delighted about this.

“It’s the smallest three-in-one store in the country but it’s great for us.”

He added that staff numbers had increased from 12 to 24, with the potential to increase further to 25.

Mr Morgan added: “The other great thing is in terms of the staff that we have, the whole management team has been brought up through this store so there are a lot of opportunities.”

He said that getting the store ready had been a real team effort.