Vodafone to open 150 shops, create 1400 jobs in Britain

Vodafone Group Plc, a British mobile telecommunications carrier, announced on Thursday to create 1,400 jobs by opening 150 new shops over the next 12 months in Britain. Meanwhile, the company's investment in Britain will reach 1 billion pounds (or approximately 1.66 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014, the highest single year investment in Vodafone's history, it said. It plans to open the first of 150 new shops in London's Notting Hill, Fulham, Walthamstow, Wembley, Ilford, and across Britain in Perry Barr and Bicester, the company said. "We clients tell us they want us to increase the physical presenting retail. And as there are the growing demand on-line, customers prefer to buy them on store, then pick up at stores," said Jeroen Hoencamp, Britain Chief Executive Officer at Vodafone, in an interview with BBC. British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement:" It is a sign that our long-term economic plan to create jobs and build a stronger, more competitive economy is working." Vodafone is the third-largest mobile operator in Britain after EE and O2. The carrier sold its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications, a U.S. telecom group, at a price of 130 billion U.S. dollars. Last month, Vodafone announced that it had reached an agreement on purchasing Spanish cable operator Ono for 7.2 billion euros.