Home, leisure and garden retailer The Range is to create 150 jobs in South Yorkshire with the opening of a new store in Barnsley.

The store, which will open next month (November), will be located at an ex-Focus site on Peel Centre Retail Park and takes The Range's total number of outlets in the UK to 59.

The Range said the venture would create 150 part and full-time jobs

Chris Dawson, owner and founder of The Range, said: "Whenever we open a new Range superstore, it is a case of waiting for the right place, right time and right price.

"Barnsley fitted all those descriptions. It doesn't stop here, that I can guarantee you. We are now on our 59th store, with many more in the pipeline for next year. We would like to welcome the locals to the store opening, so they can see first-hand, what we are about and the great quality and value products we can offer them"

Sales at the South West-headquartered company rose to £249.4m for the year ended 30 January 2011, driven by new store openings. The company said it is aiming to have almost 80 stores by the end of 2012.

The Range was recently included on the Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 league table of Britain's leading mid-market private companies.

Source: Insider