Excitement is building in Weston ahead of the opening of the revamped Dolphin Square, with one business confirming it will open next month.
The long-awaited leisure hub faced years of uncertainty before the development started 2015, but the finishing touches are now being applied to the £45million development.
The complex will be home to restaurants like Nando’s, Pizza Express, Prezzo and Mimosa, plus a rock climbing centre, bingo hall and an eight-screen Cineworld cinema.
The Mercury understands Costa Coffee and Nando’s will be the first units to open at Dolphin Square, but both are yet to confirm an opening date.
It is believed both firms held talks with the project manager in the past fortnight over finalising a moving in date – but a concrete timeframe is yet to be revealed.
MORE: What is going inside Dolphin Square?
A Costa Coffee spokesman told the Mercury it would open in ‘early September’, but could not provide an exact date for when its first drinks will be served.
A Nando’s spokesman said it cannot yet reveal an opening date for the popular chain restaurant, which already features some newly-installed branding in the windows of the Oxford Street unit.
The spokesman added: “We’re delighted to be opening a brand new restaurant in Weston and we’re looking forward to hosting and feeding locals with peri-peri goodness very soon.”
Businesses which are set to call Dolphin Square home have begun advertising job vacancies as preparations for the opening gather pace
Pizza Express is hunting for management, kitchen and waiting staff, while Luda bingo is also looking for team members.
Anytime Fitness, which will run a 24-hour gym, is looking for a club manager who could earn a salary of £25,000.
North Somerset Council’s Skills4Work programme is working with Dolphin Square’s occupiers to ‘maximise local employment opportunities for those living in the town’.
A spokesman said: “Using the information provided by the businesses, Skills4Work has then engaged local training providers to provide pre-employment training, in order to provide local people with the right skills to be employed in roles at the site.
“This is a tailored service in line with their personal career ambitions and in readiness for the recruitment to start at Dolphin Square.”
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