New town project to create 500 positions (From Thisisdorset)

New town project to create 500 positions

12:00pm Friday 19th October 2012 in Latest By Martin Lea

Dorchester’s Brewery Square development is on track to employ 500 people by next spring.

The jobs cover a range of sectors with a number of major national firms such as Odeon cinemas, Pizza Express and Premier Inn.

The first element of the £100million development’s second phase is set to open next Thursday, with Carluccio’s Italian restaurant and the Odeon cinema opening their doors in Dray Horse Yard in Weymouth Avenue, while Pizza Express is to follow shortly afterwards.

Six restaurants have so far been confirmed and one more is in the pipeline.

Carluccio’s will employ 40 people while a total of 25 new jobs will be created at the 80-seat Nando’s restaurant, which is set to open its doors in January next year.

Wagamama will create 50 jobs, while Cafe Rouge, and Zizzi will employ dozens more.

And the Premier Inn in Pope Street is set to create 45 jobs when it opens the 74-bedroom hotel.

The hotel is one of a number of big names who are set to open on the multi-million pound development, which is expected to be completed in March.

Nando’s and Premier Inn will open in January next year while the main square will open in March and boast further big names such as Hobbs and fashion retailers Phase Eight.

The completed scheme will boast 66 flats, 16 shops, seven restaurants, the cinema and hotel, close-care apartments and the main square itself featuring a multi-jet fountain.

Andrew Wadsworth, director of Waterhouse, which is developing Dorchester’s Brewery Square site in partnership with Resolution Property, said the latest phase of the scheme would create around 500 jobs.

Mr Wadsworth said: “We’ve got management people, we’ve got cleaners, jobs for people in fashion, in retail, in restaurants and cooking, bar work and hotels – lots of different jobs.”

Initially it was predicted that the development would create around 700 jobs but Mr Wadsworth said that figure now looked like being surpassed.

He said: “It could be 800 or 900 by the time we are finished.”

Local charity The Wessex Autistic Society is set to host the first-ever screening in the new cinema with a premiere viewing of the new James Bond film Skyfall on Thursday, October 25.

Tickets for the event cost £20 and are available by visiting twasskyfall.eventbrite.co.uk or by calling 01305 213138.