Tesco to hire 1,700 staff for new stores in Scotland

TESCO, the supermarket giant, yesterday said its expected to create 1,700 jobs in Scotland over the next 12 months in defiance of the credit crunch.

Britain's largest retailer said it would open a number of new supermarkets, as well as its first Scottish non-food superstore.

Among the first new Scottish staff will be hired at a 50,000 sq ft Tesco Homeplus store offering only non-food items. The two-storey store in Newcraighall Road, Edinburgh, is due to open on 24 November.

As part of an expansion of its core supermarket business, Tesco said it planned several new Scottish stores in Edinburgh, Dundee, Arbroath and elsewhere.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, aTesco director, said the company would continue to invest in areas where there was demand for a supermarket.

The chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, said the company expected to add 6,000 staff across the UK this year, with 30,000 new jobs around the world as it continued to grow in the US and Asia.

The company shrugged off the credit crisis yesterday to report a 13.8 per cent rise in first-half sales to £25.6 billion, with its pre-tax profit rising 11.3 per cent to £1.44 billion in the six months to 23 August.