WORLD famous ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's has opened a store in Chester - and every scoop sold will go to help unemployed young people.
All profits from its Bridge Street store, which officially opened yesterday, are being ploughed into a social training programme for 16-24 year olds.
Up to 12 staff a year, who were formerly out of work, will be recruited for the year long programme to gain work skills. After a year a new intake of recruits will be brought in.
The franchise is being run by social business the FRC (Furniture Resource Centre) Group, which also runs a range of furnishing, recycling and retail ventures creating training and work for long-term unemployed people.
Liam Black, chief executive of the FRC Group, said: "We first came across Ben & Jerry's PartnerShop concept last year on a fact-finding mission on social enterprise to San Francisco and were impressed with the results.
"It takes people who are long term unemployed and trains them.
"What is so fantastic about this franchise is that we don't have to worry about establishing the brand name, or worrying how the store should be fitted out or what products to stock because that is already well established. Everybody knows the Ben & Jerry's name and that leaves us free to concentrate on training the staff."
Ben & Jerry's was founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, by childhood friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.
The pair started off with an ice cream making correspondence course from Penn State University and about £6,000.
They soon became well known for their unusual flavours and large portions and the business has since grown into a global concern.
But they both stick by their motto that "business has a responsibility to the community in which it operates".
The company donates 7pc of its pre tax profits every year to social and environmental projects.
It is also well known for its Partner-Shops scheme in the US, which it launched 16 year ago, but this is its first venture in the UK.
The Chester franchise looks the same as any other Ben & Jerry's and uses the same products.
What makes it different is that staff on the social programme will undergo an intensive six-week training programme, then work in the store for 12 months.
During their employment they are given one to one training, taught how to put a CV together and given advice on interview techniques and presentation skills.
Over the next three years the FRC group plans to open six PartnerShops.
A spokeswoman for Ben & Jerry's said: "The company strongly believes in finding commercial solutions to social problems.
"The programme has been very successful in the US so it's great to bring it here."
