B&M Joined by Celebrity Guest at New Tottenham Store Opening
19 June 2015
B&M cooked up a day to remember as a special VIP guest opened its brand new store in Tottenham on Friday.
A total of 100 jobs have been created at the new Home Store, which is based at the former Sainsbury’s on High Road.
Appearing at the opening was celebrity chef and TV personality Ainsley Harriott, who gave away signed copies of his recipe book to the first few lucky customers as well as posing for pictures and signing autographs.
This was Harriott’s second visit to a B&M store opening as he had also previously opened B&M’s 400th store in Stockport – a fitting choice as the retailer hurtles towards its 450th store.
B&M was also delighted to welcome Sense, the deserving recipients of the company’s Local Hero award, given to a charity or individual who makes an important contribution to the local community.
In addition to cutting the ribbon, Sense were also awarded £250 worth of B&M vouchers as a thank you.
Sense is a national charity that has been supporting and campaigning for 60 years for children and adults who are deafblind, a condition which affects 250,000 people in the UK.
The charity provides specialist information, advice and services to deafblind people, their families, carers and the professionals who work with them.
Sense will be familiar to locals with one of the charity’s retail shops on the same road as the new B&M Home store.
Darryl Neville, Head of Retail at Sense, spoke of his gratitude towards B&M for inviting them along.
He said: “Huge thanks to B&M for their generous support.
“We always welcome the opportunity to team up with local businesses to fundraise and spread the word about the work we do.
“Even the smallest donation can make a big difference and we hope that the local community will support us by offering much needed donations.”
To help raise these donations, representatives from the charity bag-packed for the excited new customers with all money raised going towards Sense.
In addition, they also sold raffle tickets and gave away donation bags from a stand near the store entrance.
Also gratefully accepting an invitation to appear at the ribbon cutting was Mayor of Haringey, Councillor Jennifer Mann, who helped to make the occasion an even more memorable one.
The Home store will stock an extensive non-food section including toys and electrical products.
Mark Thornley, store manager for B&M Tottenham said: “B&M is committed to recruiting from the local area and I’m delighted we’ve found a great team from around Tottenham for our first store in the borough of Haringey.
“We’re really proud to have created 100 jobs and hope to continue playing our part in the local community.”
He added: “We’ve been honoured to have representatives from Sense alongside the Mayor cutting the ribbon to officially mark the opening of our new store.
“Ainsley Harriott’s guest appearance ensured it was a very exciting opening day!”
The Minions are also scheduled to make an appearance on Saturday; ensuring the opening day fun extends well into the weekend.
