Sales increase sees Brother increase staff

A 10% increase in sales will see the Manchester office of world famous Brother recruit a further ten staff.

World renowned for its printing and fax products, and with a history of working with fashion brands DKNY and Leviís, Brother has appointed leading independent recruitment consultancy Recruitment Zone Ltd of Bolton to increase its staff numbers.

Manufacturing in over 24 counties, Brother markets a diverse range of products in the UK comprising printers, fax machines, all-in-ones, laminators, electronic labeling machines, typewriters and sewing machines. In Japan the company also manufacturers machine tools and karaoke machines, and provides polyphonic ringtones for mobile phones.

Recruitment Zone has been tasked with finding high quality staff for its help desk/ customer service operation following an 10% surge in sales in 2005.

Brother UK already employs around 240 people in Manchester in addition to a further 115 people in the city through Brother International Europe. Another 250 people are employed at its production plant in Ruabon, North Wales.

Since being established in 1998, Recruitment Zone has grown to become one of Boltonís leading recruitment agencies specialising in IT, Financial Services and Customer Services. In the last year the consultancy has placed over 250 staff in customer service roles and around 100 staff in IT positions.

Jane Ashworth, Head of Customer Support Division for Brother UK, said: ìOur customer service staff are the voice of our company and so it is essential that we have exceptional people who can help us manage and capitalise on our recent growth. We need to fill these posts quickly and we feel that Recruitment Zone, with its understanding of our technical needs, corporate philosophies and ability to work within budgets, is ideally placed for the task.

ì2005 is proving to be an excellent year for Brother UK and we have seen turnover increase by 10% to over 100 million. Much of this growth has come from the rapidly expanding market for all-in-one devices that provide the facility to copy, print and scan in one compact unit.î

Brotherís success in 2005 is mirrored by Recruitment Zone which has seen first quarter turnover grow by 80% to over 2.5 million compared to the same period last year. This puts Recruitment Zone on course to achieve a projected turnover of over 15 million, up 125% on 2004.

David Bedford, Director of Recruitment Zone, said: ìWe have worked well with Brother UK in the past and look forward to filling the companyís vacant positions and helping it continue its impressive growth.

ìWe have found the electronics sector is becoming increasingly buoyant which is positive news for the industry in the UK and signals that we are starting to recover some of the ground that was lost during the bust years.î