Family firm Dicksons is expanding its store estate after opening a new branch in South Tyneside and unveiling plans for more.
The South Shields-based business, which last year marked 70 years of trading, supplies meat and bakery goods within its North East network of shops as well as in supermarkets and other shops through the regional wholesale market. Now the company has opened its 32nd store in Hedworth, Jarrow, creating six new jobs – the first of three new sites set to launch this year.
Mike Dickson, retail, growth and development director, said: “We are thrilled to be opening our latest store here in Hedworth. We have been able to create six new jobs, which given the current economic climate, is always a wonderful thing. So far support has been amazing and lots of new, and existing, customers have paid us a visit.
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“This is store number 32 for us, we love opening in areas like Hedworth as being part of a community is very important to us all. This is why we have further plans to hopefully open two more stores in the region before the end of 2024.”
Directors from Dicksons invited local councillors and workers from Johnson Construction Limited, who built the latest venue, to the opening.
Tony Monks, operations manager, from Johnson Construction Limited, said: “The work took about seven weeks from start to completion and we’re all really pleased with how the new store looks. As a company we end up working all over the place, but it’s always nice to have good relationships with businesses like Dicksons here in the North East. Hopefully we will be able to work on more projects together in the future.”
Accounts for the year ended June 30, 2023 showed Dicksons continued to invest in its business despite an overall loss. Revenues grew 9.4% to £17.6m but rising costs resulted in an operating loss of £202,662.