A recruitment agency said it was "busier than ever" - thanks to Brighton and Hove's construction boom.

The Brighton office of international construction and property specialists Hays said it expected to DOUBLE revenues from the permanent jobs market over the next 12 months.

Last year the West Street office raked in £300,000 from filling full-time posts in the building sector. Office permanent manager Julian Panter said he hoped takings in 2006 would top £600,000.

He said: "The office is buzzing at the moment and it is only going to get busier. Traditionally the winter months are quiet in the construction market but we have been rushed off our feet.

"We have just had our record month in terms of income from permanent recruitments, which quadrupled our previous best month, and things will improve over the summer months."

Major new developments in Brighton and Hove - and elsewhere in Sussex - have seen a sharp rise in demand for skilled professionals like architects and quantity surveyors.

In Brighton alone, £2 billion worth of building work is either under way or in the pipeline, including King Alfred, Black Rock, the Brighton Station site, Jubilee Road, and the Brighton Centre.

Mr Panter said the office was filling 15-20 full-time jobs every month, ranging from secretaries, earning £11,000, to project managers earning nearer £50,000, with Hays taking 17.5 per cent commission.

But the building boom has also exposed critical skills shortages in the construction industry.

Mr Panter said: "We are inundated with labourers, we have more than 200 working for us every week, but there is a lack of people coming through with a trade - plumbers, electricians and carpenters.

"I would like to see some of the major building contractors glamourise the construction industry a bit more to make it more attractive to college and school-leavers. There is good money to be made."

Robin Smith, managing director of London-based Hays Construction and Property, said: "Brighton is starting to benefit from an influx of Eastern European labour since the borders came down last year.

"Originally they all went to London but more and more of them - Polish, Russians - are migrating out to places like Sussex. The reports are they are very good workers with a strong work ethic.

"For whatever reason they are prepared to put in the overtime and work at weekends so, provided they can speak good English, we find building site managers are very keen to have them.

"Brighton has a real buzz about it at the moment and provided there is enough labour the outlook is good."

Wednesday, February 8, 2006