A FLINTSHIRE retail park is continuing its summer of anniversary celebrations, by recognising colleagues who have been at the centre since the opening day in 1999. A full 25 years on, 33 members of Broughton Shopping Park's original team are still working at the site, including colleagues at Tesco and McDonald's. Some of them have shared their memories of the park in the early days and revealed what has made them stay put for a quarter of a century - with one colleague even finding life-long love.
Simon Aldridge, 42, is manager at McDonald's. He said: "I'm lucky enough to be able to say I truly love my job at Broughton. Every day is different, and my team is amazing, but of course my highlight has to be meeting my wife here.
We met on her first day in 2001 and the rest is history! Simon Aldridge with Broughton centre manager, Alan Pruden-Barker. "There's been huge change since I started, but it's great to see Broughton continue to grow. The local community here is fantastic, and I have loved getting to know our regulars over the years - it really does feel like a big family!" Tina Evans, 59, a self service assistant at Tesco, said: "From my very first day at Tesco Broughton, I remember the centre being incredibly welcoming, and whilst there have been huge improvements to the store over the years - such as touch-screen tills and self-service Costa Coffee - the friendliness of the team has always remained the same.
" Kelly Weaver, 42, branch hub manager at Max Spielmann in Tesco.