The Ladyboys of Bangkok brought a touch of glamour to the jobs market as they helped launch a recruitment agency.

Employment Plus, which was founded in1991 and has branches in Sutton, Staines and Guildford, has opened an office on Queen's Road, Brighton.

The agency specialises in three main areas - temporary and permanent commercial recruitment, care workers for homes, nurseries and hospitals and industrial and catering staff, which covers everything from drivers to chefs.

Branch manager Kelly Rowlinson said Brighton was chosen because there were lots of job opportunities across various sectors.

She said: "Brighton and Hove has a large working population and a number of businesses are recruiting new staff.

"We've been very busy since we opened on Tuesday and the number of applications we've received has been fantastic.

"The good news is companies have also been getting in touch with vacancies."

Ms Rowlinson, who is a qualified care worker, also runs the branch's care staff operation.

She said: "The demand for care staff is massive. We're benefiting from being on the south coast.

"We can cover up to Worthing and there always seem to be opportunities, especially for care assistants and the like."

The catering and commercial sectors were also bearing up, despite lingering economic uncertainty.

She said: "The catering market is seasonal but we're in season at the moment and everything's looking good.

"We can cover up to and including Gatwick, which means we've got a large market to target. The commercial market is also doing well, especially on the temporary side.

"We're getting a lot of business through call centres in the city."

There were always jobs available for people who search around. She said prospects were good for the Brighton branch.

Ms Rowlinson said: "Employment Plus was launched in the middle of a recession but has continued to do good business and we expect the Brighton branch to go from strength to strength."

Thursday June 5, 2003