Ikea staff announce their recruitment drive hotline

Three hundred and eighty staff are being taken on for the Ikea store now under construction in Ferry Road, next to the Cardiff Bay Retail Park, which will open in November.

As well as hoping to draw its workforce from the diverse ethnic population in Cardiff Bay, the Swedish company says it is looking to the older age market for its new recruits.

"We would also like to see applications from people who may have retired early and who wish to supplement their pensions," said the store's human resources manager Gay Winnutt.

Around eight per cent of the company's UK workforce are over 50 - around 531 people.

"We hope to offer a range of hours to suit people from all backgrounds."

The listed gasometer could have threatened the development

Forty eight managers have already been taken on for the store on the former gas works site in Grangetown.

There had originally been fears that a listed gasometer on the site could jeopardise the development .

But the 120-year-old gas holder was later found to stand outside the Ikea site.

Construction of the now familiar blue Ikea box is now underway.

When completed the store - Ikea's twelfth in the UK - will also be the second biggest store here.

It's expected to attract many of the Wales-based customers who have had to travel to others stores, largely Bristol and Birmingham, to get a taste of its trademark flat-packed furniture.

Group interviews

Last year 3,268m people visited the Bristol store, and it's estimated 20% of them came from Wales.

The company is looking for people to work in all departments, including on the shop floor and in the logistics, customer services and catering departments.

It is taking a stand at a jobs fair in the Millennium Stadium on Thursday and initial group interviews - of around 25 candidates at a time - will begin next month.

Ikea's Cardiff store manager, Theresa Daly, said she was looking for "down-to-earth, straightforward people" who would be given the opportunity to grow "both as individuals and in their professional roles".

Recognised for its fun style of advertising, Ikea has made no exception for the recruitment campaign for its south Wales store.

It has opted for a play on the famous longest Welsh place name - the Anglesey village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll Llantysiliogogogoch or Llanfair PG for short.

The Ikea slogan instead promises: "Allsortsajobsforallsortsapeopleatcardiffikea"