STAFF at grooming specialists were headhunted by bosses of the new £440m Westgate Centre to be their first home-grown retailers.

Junaid Ansari, who runs the Burrows & Hare store in the Covered Market, Oxford, said staff from the centre came into the shop and asked them if they wanted to set up a new outlet in the Westgate Centre when it opens in October.

They are now looking forward to setting up their second shops alongside designer brands such as Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

The family-run business opened in the Covered Market in August 2015 and its menswear and grooming products have won a loyal following.

Mr Ansari, 28, said the new deal was a 'dream come true' and staff were now looking forward to running two stores instead of one.

He added: "They really liked what we were doing and soon after that we got the invite.

"We are a home-grown independent and now shoppers will be able to find a little bit of the Covered Market in the Westgate Centre.

"It's amazing and it feels a bit like being scouted to play for a top Premier League team.

"We take pride in our products and work with craftsmen in the UK - this is a big move for us but we don't want to expand for the sake of it - we will grow organically."

Mr Ansari said the unit at the Westgate Centre was 'double the size' of the existing store.

He added: "It's a decent sized shop - we will go in there for five years and then see how it goes."

Sara Fuge, development manager at Westgate Oxford Alliance, said they were delighted such a 'well-loved' business was moving into the new centre.

Burrows & Hare was one among the13 latest brands to be announced by Westgate Oxford Alliance, a partnership of Land Securities and the Crown Estate.

Earlier this month the 10-month countdown to the opening of the revamped centre was marked by the announcement of the new brands and two new restaurants.

Other retailers announced at the 800,000 sq ft centre, which will have a 140,000 sq ft John Lewis as an anchor store, included Mint Velvet, Smashbox, Gant, Body Shop, T2, Hotel Chocolat, Guess, JD Sports, Trotters, Accessorize, Lush and Aveda.

About two thirds of the units at the centre have now been let.

Vietnamese street food chain Pho, and gourmet American diner chain Dirty Bones, will also open branches at the revamped centre.

Other retailers will include Primark, Michael Kors, Hugo Boss, Ted Baker, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein and high street favourites Cos, H&M, Russell & Bromley and Victoria’s Secret Pink.

No precise date for the opening of the Westgate Centre in October has yet been announced.