News publisher the Midlands News Association (MNA), which produces the Express & Star, Britain’s biggest-selling regional news title, has broken into the recruitment agency market.

The agency, Star Employment Services, will operate from dedicated shop premises at the MNA’s headquarters in Queen Street, Wolverhampton, and will work in both permanent and temporary recruitment across the West Midlands. A company spokesperson tells Recruiter they hope to open up “subsequent branches” within the next three years.

The spokesperson would not be drawn on which industry sectors the company would operate in other than saying it was looking for “high-calibre temporary and permanent staff”, but told Recruiter an advert placed last week called for people with various skills, including gas fitters, drivers, forklift truck drivers and welders.

MNA managing director Phil Inman says: “We know we are entering a competitive market but we can draw upon our strong experience of local recruitment and the local high regard for our brands.

“The Express & Star has established an unrivalled reach and been a trusted part of life in the region for 130 years.”

The management of the agency will be led between group classified advertisement manager Lee Smith and an experienced recruiter, new hire Mike Clare (both pictured above), who joins from multi-sector agencies Best Connection and Prime Time Recruitment.

Smith says the company has “put in place a three-year plan to generate a significant new revenue stream for the MNA”.