MORE than 1500 people called a jobs hotline to work at the new Glasgow branch of the Hamleys toyshop.

MORE than 1500 people called a jobs hotline to work at the new Glasgow branch of the Hamleys toyshop.

Bosses had so many applications when they advertised for roles at the 25,000sq ft St Enoch Centre store that they had a potential choice of 38 people for each of the 40 permanent positions.

Within 30 minutes of the ads going up the answering service was full of messages.

Bosses will not reveal how many people went on to apply, but they did say that, within days, more than 700 people had sent in CVs.

Keane Herman, Hamleys operations manager said: "So many people want to be part of the magic of Hamleys."

Positions available included being the shop's demonstrators, who show off the toys.

One person who struck it lucky was Grant Yuill, 24, from Muirhead, just outside Glasgow. He will be the marketing and events coordinator.

Mr Yuill, who used to work in corporate partnerships and events department at Maggie's Cancer Centres, said: "I knew how exciting the store was in London and when the opportunity came up I jumped at the chance.

"It is an amazing toy store and for so many people to apply shows how strong a brand it is."

A spokeswoman for Usdaw, the shopworkers' union, said: "In recent months, there have been exceptionally high levels of applicants for work in new stores across the UK. The interest in Hamleys shows it is clearly a very popular store to work in."

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, added: "We look forward to the opening of Hamleys at the St Enoch Centre. We are sure it will benefit from a workforce full of enthusiasm and drive, attributes of so many Glaswegians."

As previously reported in the Evening Times, the football-pitch-sized shop will take up a whole floor of the £100million extension of the shopping centre.

It will open in the middle of next month and bosses are promising to bring some of the special Hamleys magic from the seven-floor Regent Street store in London, which attracts eight million people a year.

There will be special displays in the Glasgow store, including snow scenes at Christmas, and an in-store beach.

Children will also be able to have parties and possibly sleepovers there.

Hamleys, which celebrates its 250th birthday next year, did have a concession in Frasers but closed it last year, with bosses saying they wanted to concentrate on creating stand-alone stores.

The Glasgow store will be its first major shop in the UK outside London - it has already opened one in Dublin and others in Dubai and Jordan.

The redevelopment work at the St Enoch Centre has created 700 jobs at other new shops and almost 2000 people have applied for them.

Clothes stores Henleys, Pulp and H&M, jewellery specialist Folli Follie are opening, while others, including Boots, are expanding.

Susan Nicol, the centre's general manager, said: "We are delighted so many people have applied to work in Hamleys.

"But jobseekers who have not been successful with the store should not be disheartened. The redevelopment of the centre is almost complete and as more retailers sign up to join our existing line-up of stores we anticipate there will be many more job vacancies available."

Even Blitz couldn't stop firm growing

Hamleys History...

1760: William Hamley opened a toyshop called Noah's Ark in London's High Holborn.

1881: Regent Street branch in same city is opened by William's grandsons.

1940: Even being bombed five times in the Blitz did not stop Hamleys. Wearing tin hats, staff served at the shop entrance.

2007: Hamleys opened concessions in Frasers in Glasgow and Jenners in Edinburgh but they closed just over a year later, with bosses saying they wanted to focus on stand-alone stores.

2008: Icelandic company Baugur, which had stakes in the company collapsed, but Hamleys was not affected, however it was reported by retail press that the firm's net losses spiralled to £7.1million.

2009: Hamleys will open in Glasgow's St Enoch Centre.