Jobcentre Plus

A Tunstall dog groomer is urging other local employers to take advantage of the recruitment services on offer at Burslem Jobcentre after they helped her employ a new member of staff.

Jacky Ford, from The Groom Room in Roundwell Street, was "thrilled" with the service she received from Burslem Jobcentre when she needed to find a part-time groomer to join her team of three.

Jacky explained: "It is a brilliant service and I would totally recommend it. I had so many applicants; I had to put the vacancy on hold while I interviewed them.

"It really couldn't have been easier to use. Another local business owner told me about the Jobcentre Jobsbus visiting the area and I paid it a visit. They explained the range of services on offer and put me in touch with Employer Direct, the Jobcentre Plus vacancy service.

"Employer Direct took all the details of my vacancy and put it on their computer system. Within days I was inundated with suitable applicants."

Burslem Jobcentre offers local employers a free recruitment service specifically designed to help make their hiring process run smoothly.

Alwena Parry, labour market recruitment adviser at Burslem Jobcentre, said: "As soon as we receive the details of your vacancy it is displayed on our 8,600 touch screen systems and our website, which receives more than 1 million visits a week. It will also be accessible through our telephone service that handles over 120,000 calls every week.

"You decide how to find prospective applicants. They can apply direct to you, just like a newspaper advertisement, or we can manage the process more actively to ensure that you only see the most suitable candidates. Jobcentre Plus offices can be made available for you to conduct interviews too."

For more information about placing vacancies at Burslem Jobcentre, Alwena and her team can be contacted on telephone number 01782 426459 or contact Employer Direct on 0845 601 2001 (0845 601 2002 - textphone for hearing or speech impaired).

Notes to editor:

Please see the attached photograph of (left to right): Tom Taylor, Jobcentre Plus Jobsbus adviser; Jacky Ford, proprietor of The Groom Room; Alwena Parry, labour market recruitment adviser covering Hanley and Burslem Jobcentres; and Bramble (the dog).

Jobcentre Plus, part of the Department for Work and Pensions, brings together employment and benefit services for people of working age and is a key element in the Government's objectives to help people based on 'Work for those who can, support for those who cannot'. It provides a professional and modern service to meet the diverse needs of employers and those seeking work, including:

• Personal advisers to provide practical support and advice to help those in need find and keep work, including training provision and benefits guidance
  
• A dedicated service to support employers in filling their vacancies quickly and successfully, including the ability to place jobs online
  
• Ability to search for jobs both online and over the phone through Jobpoints in Jobcentre Plus offices, the Jobseeker Direct phone line and through the website
  
• Swift, secure and professional access to benefits for those entitled to them.

Customers can access Jobcentre Plus services through around 1,000 locations across Great Britain, including over 800 newly refurbished Jobcentre Plus offices. Touch-screen terminals and Customer Access Phones are also available in a further 120 sites such as libraries and local authority premises. Jobcentre Plus works with over 275,000 employers to place 17,000 people into work every week. Over 400,000 vacancies are listed each week on its website and more than 4m job search requests are received, making it the number one UK recruitment website.

For further information on the services that Jobcentre Plus provides employers and people of working age visit the Jobcentre Plus website.

Media enquiries: Jo Carroll 0121 626 2992 or 07876 546583
Out of hours: 07659 108883
Public Enquiries: 0207 712 2171
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk