THE North’s economic growth explosion has become a key factor to Russell Taylor Group’s further expansion in the construction trades jobs market.

As the region continues to entice developers to create major new-build commercial and residential schemes, the business has opened a new satellite office in Leeds city centre, a move also confirming a strong pipeline of projects for the coming years.

It will add to the company’s Northern portfolio of existing offices in Manchester and Liverpool which are focusing mainly on construction trades recruitment.

Heading the team there is recruitment specialist Cat Russell whose trade and labour expertise saw her rapid rise from consultant to management within a short space of time, opening a new recruitment operation in Edinburgh which became one of her previous employer’s highest performing branches.

From the Leeds office Russell Taylor Group will be focusing on new jobs and skills opportunities throughout Yorkshire and in Scotland.

Skyscrapers changing the face of the Leeds city skyline are testament to the uplift in vacancies in the construction trades and building services sector while further huge amounts of office space, apartments, hotels and hospitals are on course for development in the city.

Leeds has now become the UK’s fastest growing city and is the main driver of a region with a £64 billion economy and a workforce of 1.37 million. Its economy is expected to grow by 21 per cent over the next 10 years, financial and business services accounting for 38 per cent of total output and other key sectors including retail, leisure and the visitor economy, construction, manufacturing and the creative and digital industries.

More than £3.9 billion has been invested in large scale development projects in recent years and a further £7.3 billion-worth of development is currently either under construction or being planned.

Cat said: “All these figures and predictions put Leeds, along with York, Huddersfield, Bradford and Halifax, in the enviable position of experiencing a massive upturn in economic good fortune, creating many new opportunities for jobs and skills development.

“As in other parts of the North, inward investment and the Northern Powerhouse initiative to boost economic growth has already resulted in a massive uplift in job vacancies in the construction trades and building services sector.

“Statistics show that investor confidence in the region is already strong, particularly with demand for commercial and residential property, and more and more businesses are beginning to move their head offices to Leeds or are opening new branches here.

“The result is a growing need for a whole range of construction trades – joiners, bricklayers, scaffolders, plant operators and labourers. It’s an exciting prospect for the new Russell Taylor team here in Leeds as we work to provide contractors with a first class workforce of skilled building and construction workers.

“Our job is to make sure only the best people are put to work on these major projects so they are completed on time and play a part in the North’s economic success.”

For Russell Taylor Group, part of Russell Taylor Holdings which is the fastest growing privately-owned recruitment business in the UK, the construction surge has seen its construction trades activity grow by 300 per cent over the past four years.

Managing director Rob Kurton, who is based at the company’s head office at Burton Manor, Wirral, said the business was now firmly placed at the heart of the regeneration of the economic growth of major cities in the North.

He said: “New opportunities are constantly being opened up for jobs and skills development in the region and we, as one of the biggest technical recruitment operations in the UK, are very much a part of these plans, particularly in the construction, facilities management and manufacturing sectors.

“Our teams based in Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool are now perfectly placed in vibrant cities entering new phases of major economic growth in the North and where their expertise will put employers and job-seekers in prime position to take advantage of this remarkable transformation.”