A “fairly typical” level of interest in jobs at a new Waitrose store has garnered significant media attention across the UK.

When Waitrose opened applications for 140 new jobs for a new branch opening in June in Greenwich, it received a total of 2,000 applicants or just over 14 per role.

A Waitrose spokesperson tells Recruiter this was a “fairly typical” level of response, but adds “what did surprise us was the rapidness of the response”, with 1,400 applications received within the first four days.

Earlier this year, a minor media frenzy was also generated over the revelation that coffee shop chain Costa had received 1,701 applications for just eight jobs, despite one in-house recruiter telling Recruiter this was “not many”.

The Waitrose news featured within the front pages of the London Evening Standard and has been reported prominently elsewhere. But how does it compare with other recruitment campaigns?

• 800 applicants: HR interim Julia Briggs has described how she once received 800 applications for one role – and said that she made sure she responded to every single one.

• 213 applicants/job: Seen at Costa earlier this year – “highlighting Britain’s unemployment crisis”, according to the Daily Mirror.

• 194 applicants/job: Earlier this year, business software firm m-hance received 1,162 applications for six roles on its inaugural graduate scheme before the application period had even closed.

• 138 applicants/job: The level seen by IT recruiter CV Screen during August 2012. The firm put the drop from 198 in the same period in 2011 down to the Olympic Games.

• 32 applicants/job: This is the average number of applicants per South-East-based role across totaljobs.com for the month of March. London saw 26; the lowest rates nationally of 10 in East Anglia and the South-West; and six in Northern Ireland.

• 25 applicants/job: Budget retailer Poundland said it commonly got this level of interest for jobs, and reportedly interviewed five people for each role, back in October 2011.