A IBIZA based DJ has returned to Bradford to become the manager of a furniture store that will open later this month.

Scandinavian retailer JYSK will open its first branch in Bradford on June 29, taking up a large unit at Manningham Retail Park, now known as Phoenix Retail Park.

The company’s UK boss says Bradford was chosen as a location for a new store as the city is “thriving as a retail destination compared with the challenges faced elsewhere in the UK.”

And when the store opens it’s manager will be David Padgett, a Bradford born 30 year old who became one of the country’s youngest retail managers at the age of 17 before changing careers to become a DJ and singer.

The store is opening in a refurbished unit at the retail park, created when two smaller, vacant units were merged.

Mr Padgett will swap the warm climes and party atmosphere of Ibiza – his last workplace – to come home to his beloved Bradford and a top job at the store. He said: “Retail has been in my blood from an early age and JYSK is such a great company to work for. It’s a huge brand and it’s bucking the trend by expanding.”

A Bradford City fan, David was excited to hear that members of his team would be taking part in a VIP preview event at the store to raise money for charity, on June 28.

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UK Country Manager for JYSK, David Ashton, added: “For some time Bradford has been high on the target list for a JYSK store in the UK. Bradford is thriving as a retail destination compared with the challenges faced elsewhere in the UK.”

The company has said that Bradford was one of three towns chosen from a long-list of 400 potential store locations for the Scandinavian-owned global furniture brand’s latest expansion.

It also marks a revival of the retail park. After the closure of Toys R Us just one business was on the site - JD Gyms. Supermarket Food Warehouse has since opened in the former Toys R Us building.

Mr Ashton told the Telegraph & Argus he used to work in Lidl in Bradford and that the city has “a place in my heart.” He added: “A while ago the retail park was a sign of the complete decline of the UK retail market. But now there has been a big turnaround, and we’ve taken two units. Food Warehouse is fantastic. And Forster Square retail park is also thriving.

“It is nice to see the city centre regenerated too. In 2010 it was struggling, but there has been a lot of regeneration. It is nice to see Bradford becoming a destination city in its own right and coming out of Leeds’ shadow.”