Education and social care recruiter Connex will open a new office in Leeds in January to cater for high demand for teachers in Yorkshire and the North-East.

Liverpool-based Connex, which runs 80% of its business in the education sector, is branching out into Leeds and has already taken on an extra two members of staff with a further consultant being added in February. It already has offices in Birmingham and Nottingham.

Director Bruce Dutton told Recruiter that market research has suggested that the demand is significant in Leed:.

“The office will place primary and secondary teachers. We see it as an opportunity in a very busy geographical area.”   

Connex has achieved big increases in sales in 2008 and Mark Beedles, managing director, told Recruiter: “The Connex strategy of focusing solely on public sector recruitment is now paying dividends. We have seen sales growth of 20% this year and our success is testament to the hard work of our staff and our commitment to quality, cost and customer service.”

As the recession starts to affect recruiters, Beedles adds: “Many areas of recruitment are really struggling, luckily Connex has positioned itself within sectors that are less susceptible to the economic climate and we are leveraging this position to grow our staff numbers by 30% this year and are targeting sales of £30m within the next five years.”