To give helping hand and build business.
Francis Collins, owner of Every Battery, has staffed his new store exclusively with former Dick Smith workers. He had spent the past month visiting Tasmanian Dick Smith stores to offer opportunities to employees faced with forced redundancies, according to local media.
“I saw the opportunity to both help out those facing redundancy and build the business through the help of some great employees,” he said.
Former Dick Smith employees, James Davey, Joe Andrews and Peter Lickiss (pictured above) started work at the Every Battery store in Glenorchy, approximately 8km north-west of Hobart, this week.
They were among the 80 Tasmanians, and 2460 Australians across the country who found themselves unemployed when Dick Smith closed the last of its 390 stores early this month.
Davey worked at Dick Smith for seven years and with a six-week-old son to provide for he was feeling the pressure looking for a new job.
“I’ve got a young family to look after at home, so the pressure really began to set in as things wound down at Dick Smith,” he told local media.
Davey was thankful Collins came and offered a helping hand rather than advertising the positions.
“Francis simply came into the shop on one of our last trading days and asked if any of us were looking for work,” he said.