New B & Q Means More Local Choice and More Local Jobs

Earlier this month, I was invited to help mark the opening of Bedford's own B&Q store, which sits on a newly-developed site across the roundabout from Kempston Interchange Retail Park. This large new store will be welcomed by shoppers, with new choice and competition introduced. Crucially, the new store creates ninety new jobs, and as store manager Lee Carter explained to me, the vast majority of those recruited are local.

There were large queues on the morning of the opening, with people pleased to see another major new store opening in Bedford, following on the heels of the Waitrose and Morrison's supermarkets, for example, along with a number of others.

The formal opening was carried out by competition winner Colin Redpath who, fittiingly, is a local builder. One attempt to cut the ribbon with a pair of garden shears from the store had to be abandoned, as clearly they are not designed for such tasks! The traditional scissors did the job in the end!

B&Q are one of the retailers which have been mentioned to me on numerous occasions by residents as one of those which people feel would enhance the available options for shopping locally - along with Watirose prior to its opening last year- so I was obviously delighted to work with the developers and support this major new investmenet in the Borough. Planning permission is in place for significant further development of the site alongside the B&Q, with more jobs and choice for local shoppers set to be delivered.