Jenkins the Bakers signs up for prestige new East Gate development in Llanelli

One of Llanelli’s best-established businesses has signed up to be part of the prestigious new East Gate development in the town.

Jenkins the Bakers will be taking a ground floor unit in the new development.

“We are one of the most historic businesses in Llanelli and we wanted to be part of an exciting new development which will form a key pillar in the town’s future,” said Jenkins the Bakers operations director Russell Jenkins.

“We already have three very well-established outlets in the town centre but we also wanted to be a part of the new East Gate scheme.

“Our planned expansion to another shop will not affect the current Jenkins shops in Llanelli town centre. For them, it will be business as usual.

“We view the East Gate development as another string to our bow. The familiarity of our current shops endures with both staff and shoppers and we don’t plan to break that winning formula.

“The East Gate development represents expansion on our part and a vote of confidence in the new part of our town centre.

“As a third-generation family business, which has been in Llanelli for more than 90 years, we care very passionately about the future of the town and the success of the community.

“We are very happy to be joining the new East Gate development and I know our staff members are very excited at the development.”

The East Gate development was in the news last week when the Llanelli Scarlets rugby region announced they would be taking one of the feature units at the new development.

Mr Jenkins added: “From all the visuals I have seen featuring the new theatre complex and the cinema, East Gate looks like being a very exciting project with the promise of reviving the fortunes of Llanelli town centre.

“Our unit is about 1350 sq ft in its ground floor footprint. We are now in the process of drawing up plans to decide what will go into the new retail outlet. Our current expectation is that we would be open for business in East Gate by the autumn.”

East Gate information

East Gate has been designed to become one of the main leisure destinations in the South West Wales region, drawing from a wide area.

The East Gate leisure development forms part of the Llanelli town centre regeneration programme. Construction work is continuing on the £20 million project and it is due to open in September 2012.

The scheme includes:

• 6 screen digital multiplex cinema (Odeon Cinemas)
• 53-bed Travelodge hotel
• 6 restaurant units
• 20,000 sq ft of office space
• Retail units and cafes fronting onto attractive public areas.
• 240 surface car parking spaces

The Llanelli 30-minute trade area contains a population of nearly 264,000 people with population growth expected to result in an additional 7,500 by 2014.

The new 550 seat theatre will draw people from beyond the 30 minute trade area.

The 21,000 sq ft office space will also bring significant footfall to the scheme.

The bus Interchange will generate a projected 1 million user trips per annum.

The cinema is projected to generate 300,000 admissions per annum

Jenkins Bakery

The Jenkins bakery employs 300 people, full and part-time, across 25 different stores in South Wales.

The company has the Gold Standard Welsh Food Hygiene Award and the Investors in People award.

The business employs 70 people at its Trostre HQ, while the Jenkins shop network stretches from Carmarthen to Bridgend. There are 13 shops in Carmarthenshire and even one as far afield as Powys.

Weblinks: http://www.eastgatellanelli.co.uk, http://jenkinsbakery.co.uk/