Caffè Nero is planning to recruit up to 900 staff over the next two years as it opens another 100 stores, the company has revealed.
The coffee shop chain, which currently has 248 stores across the UK, is preparing to open another 50 stores this year, and a further 50 in 2007. This will bring a number of recruitment challenges, said head of HR Steve Carpenter.
“We’re obviously competing with other retailers and it’s especially tough to recruit in fairly remote areas,” he said. “Most people see working in a café as a short-term job rather than a career. The downside is that we often don’t get the commitment, and people don’t stick around for very long.”
Carpenter said it was vital to maintain the company values during the expansion.
“Our overriding aim is to keep the family feel of a small business and look after our people properly.”
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Caffè Nero, which relies almost solely on window advertising in regional areas and a ‘drop in’ recruitment centre in London, has a workforce currently made up of 66 different nationalities.
The average age of the chain’s 2,500 existing staff is 25. Most are British, but there are also large numbers of Italians, French and Poles.
