Recruitment Agencies in Stockport, Cheshire, The North West

Stockport is one the most rapidly growing towns in the north of England.

Close to the Peak District, but only six miles south east of Manchester city centre, the town is building a reputation as a commercially dynamic place to live and work.

Historically Stockport, which has a population of 136,000 people, was a centre for the cotton and textile industry. But these days, the town prides itself on its entrepreneurial economy and is home to some 12,000 businesses.

Significantly, it has the second lowest rate of unemployment in Greater Manchester at 3.3%, below the national average, with small businesses encouraged to start up and helped to sustain.

More than 50% of those working in Stockport are managers or professionals, compared with 44% nationally, while 33.8% of the town's working populations have degrees. The Co-op has its telephone banking headquarters in the town, while the retail sector is a key employer in Stockport, with the Merseyway shopping centre home to 95 shops.

The town's biggest source of employment is, however, in the health sector, with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust employing 13.2% of the working population. Recruitment agencies are also likely to seek to place staff in the manufacturing and construction industries, with those living in the town earning an average of £497 per week.

In recent years, the council has begun a regeneration scheme, called Future Stockport, which aims to attract 3,000 new people to the area and in doing so create new jobs.