Member Article

Educational recruitment company grows North East influence with Cramlington expansion

A North East educational recruitment firm has opened a new office in Northumberland in response to a growing demand for high quality teaching staff in the county.

The Education Network recruits teachers, teaching assistants, nursery nurse staff and SEN specialists and matches them with schools and colleges looking for staff, be it for supply work for short-term contracts or long term, permanent roles.

The move to new premises in Cramlington’s Manor Walk Shopping Centre at Dudley Court is the third Education Network office to open in the region (12th nationally) and typifies the rapid growth of the business in just a few short years.

Since launching the Newcastle office in 2011 with just three staff, the business has seen its turnover rise from £600k to this year’s projected £7.8m with 31 staff on the payroll. The business has another office in Durham covering the south of the region.

Director Kevin Gill, who lives in Cramlington, firmly believes in keeping business local and putting back into the community where he works and lives. Indeed, The Education Network has a proud reputation for its excellent community work with figures in excess of £50k being ploughed back into school events and teams.

Already in the Cramlington area, the business has sponsored Walk to School Week, Cramlington Juniors FC, the Northumberland School Games, Cramlington Multi-skills Academy and the Newcastle Eagles School Basket Ball League.

Kevin said: “We are all for giving back to the schools and to the education professionals who we look after. We enjoy supporting school sports events and activities and I believe that we are unique in that we give generous retention bonuses, pay back student loans for newly qualified teachers, provide free CPD training and generally look after our clients and the community well.

“Our work ethos is to repay the confidence that our clients have placed in us by putting sponsorship back into the community we serve. The more we work in an area, the more projects we can help.”

What’s more, helping to run the new office are Primary Education Consultant and Qualified Primary Teacher, Clint McKellar and Michelle Olsen who is a Secondary Education Consultant and a Qualified Secondary Teacher.

“Our business relies on having experienced, specialist staff to help schools get the best possible teachers. Clint and Michelle bring a wealth of experience with them which will be invaluable to both teachers looking for work and schools and academy’s within Northumberland and Tyneside,” added Kevin.

The Cramlington move has also led to the appointment of partnership manager, Wayne Daley who has been tasked with a new role to develop the existing sporting and community partnerships as well as looking into additional service offerings. Wayne will be responsible for developing specialised training programmes including specific training for school governors and academy directors.

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