A COMPREHENSIVE report into the state of Winsford’s employment market has highlighted the need for ‘urgent action’ to close the town’s skills gap.

Mayor, clr Mike Kennedy, commissioned Bralin Recruitment to conduct the report to get a snapshot of local employers’ attitudes and experiences of employing local staff.

The findings of the research paint a ‘better-than-expected’ picture of the town’s employment opportunities and prospects, but also highlighted areas in need of attention.

While employers said they had struggled to fill technical and engineering positions, the majority of employers noted an abundance of people with experience in warehousing and call centre rolls.

Clr Kennedy, who made boosting jobs for young people one of his mayoral commitments, said: “A lot has been said about the state of employment in Winsford so I asked Bralin Recruitment to provide me with data that gives an accurate picture of what’s going on in our town.

“These research findings are encouraging as they are better than expected in some areas, cutting through some of the myths about employment in Winsford.

“The research also highlights the scale of the challenge this town faces to bridge skills gaps to get local people into the right local jobs.”

The team at Bralin Recruitment, based at Meridian House on the Winsford Industrial Estate, surveyed 50 local employers and asked key questions around the process of recruiting staff.

Bralin Recruitment’s Managing Consultant, Karen Blondel, said: “In the work we do, we talk to a lot of businesses, and they were more than happy to give us an honest account of their experiences when it comes to filling vacancies.

“Recruiters like Bralin are on the front line of employment in Winsford and I hope that our findings are a prompt for everyone involved to double their efforts for the good of the economy in the town.”

Cllr Kennedy plans to share the findings of the report with colleagues at the council and other agencies in the town that are focused on supporting the business economy.

Key findings The survey found that two thirds of those polled said they were happy with the calibre of staff that they had recruited from the town.

The third who said they weren’t happy cited issues such as poor work ethic, sketchy work histories and unreliability of staff.

Two in five employers reported that they had struggled to fill semi-skilled, technical and engineering vacancies in the last 12 months.

Nearly two thirds of employers said that the town has an abundance of people with skills and experience in areas such as warehousing and call centres.

The survey also found that employees were travelling from as far afield as the Wirral, Chester and Ellesmere Port to fill positions with companies in Winsford.