A NATIONAL recruitment agency is bridging the industrial jobs gap after setting up a new base in East Lancashire.

Gap personnel, the UK’s eighth largest industrial labour provider, is aiming to provide opportunities to hundreds of jobseekers in sectors including automotive, manufacturing, warehousing, waste management, recycling, and food production.

The new branch, in Lodge House, Cow Lane, Burnley, will serve Barnoldswick to Padiham, and the Rossendale Valley, and will be a vital link between its North West and Yorkshire operations.

It already has branches in Crewe, Liverpool, Preston, and Warrington.

Helen Jackson, branch manager said: “There are many benefits to opening an office within the M65 corridor, not least giving us access to a number of large local towns, including Nelson, Colne, Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn and Darwen.

“There is a lot of industry in this area, allowing us to gain further opportunities and develop our market share with the ‘gap’ brand in the North West region.

“We have recruited one new person to work in the office at present and will be looking to take on additional staff in the near future. I am excited about the opening of the new branch, as this is the area where I have grown up and spent my last 10 years in recruitment, so to open an office here is very exciting”.

North West regional director Neil Barrett said: “The addition of the Burnley operation really strengthens the ‘gap’ brand across the North West, taking the region to six locations, and confirms our position as the key operator in the industrial marketplace, with over 1,400 workers placed on a weekly basis.

“I am looking forward to working with the Burnley team to move this new office to the same heights as our other locations.”