New Orange Cambridge store provides jobs boost

• New Orange store opening in Grafton Centre creating ten jobs for the local economy.
• This is Orange’s third store in Cambridge and doubles the number of local staff employed to twenty.
• The store is expected to be their busiest in Cambridge and will capitalise on the estimated 398,292 mobile phone customers in the area.
• Grafton Centre Director, Michael Wiseman, values Orange’s investment in the centre.

The first ever Orange store in the Grafton Centre and Cambridge’s third will officially open on Wednesday 20th May – creating ten new jobs for Cambridge residents; doubling the total number of people Orange employs in Cambridge.

The new flagship store means Orange customers will never be far from a store, with a choice of three locations in Cambridge: Petty Cury, Fitzroy Street and now a new format retail outlet with private consultation areas and modernised displays in the Grafton Centre.

Edward Allen, Manager of the new store, said: “We jumped at the opportunity to go into the Grafton Centre. Orange is investing heavily in Cambridge, from a retail perspective, due to the high demand from customers in the area to have access to the very latest mobile and broadband solutions. We expect the Grafton Centre store to be our busiest in the city. With an estimated 398,292 mobile phone customers in the Cambridge area, we’ll have our work cut out.”

Current bestsellers for Orange in the city include mobile broadband for laptops and international SIM cards for worldwide phone calls.

Michael Wiseman, Grafton Centre Director, said: “It’s fantastic to have such a well known brand with a terrific record in customer service coming into the centre. With the cinema in the centre promoting Orange Wednesdays* each week, it’s great that Orange customers can now visit a store too, where they can receive quality face to face telecommunications advice from a trained consultant.”

Orange is investing heavily in its retail network, opening more than 60 new stores in 2009 and refurbishing more than 100, all of which will take on the new flagship format on display in Cambridge.

The features of the flagship format stores include private consultation areas for customers, with PCs and screens to connect people to the information they need, and modernised displays making it easier for consumers to browse and view the products on show.

To find out more about what’s available from Orange see the team at the Orange Shops in the Grafton Centre, Fitzroy Street or Petty Cury or visit shop.orange.co.uk.

ENDS

For more information about the new Orange shop in Cambridge, please contact: Pamela Baxter Paratus Communications M: 07769 733722 E: Pamela.Baxter@paratuscommunications.com

Notes to editors:

*Orange Wednesdays is the company's 2 for 1 cinema deal available to all pay monthly, pay as you go, broadband and business customers (for terms and conditions visit: http://web.orange.co.uk/p/film/home)

About Orange

Orange is the key brand of the France Telecom Group, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. With 123 million customers, the Orange brand now covers Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates.

At the end of 2008, France Telecom had consolidated sales of 53.5 billion euros (12.7 billion euros for the first quarter of 2009) and at 29 April 2009, the Group had a customer base of almost 184 million customers in 30 countries. These include 123 million mobile customers worldwide and 13 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers in Europe. Orange is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

In the UK, Orange provides high quality GSM coverage to 99% of the UK population. At the end of March 2009, Orange had almost 17 million customers in the UK – 15.8 million active mobile customers and close to one million fixed broadband customers.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited.

For more information: www.orange.com, www.francetelecom.com, www.orange-business.com

For further information, call the Orange press office on 0870 373 1500 or email: Orangepr@golinharris.com.