Charlton Recruitment, set up by Nicola Cookson in 2014, provides people for the catering and hospitality industry. Tony McDonough reports

A Liverpool recruitment business that supplies staff to major events such as Chester Races and the Open Golf Championship has secured new funding for expansion.

Charlton Recruitment, set up by Nicola Cookson in 2014, provides people for the catering and hospitality industry.

Ms Cookson manages the business with Andrew Cain and they are keen to invest in the delivery of accredited training for new and existing people on their books.

The hospitality industry suffers from a high turnover of staff and there are significant skills shortages, leading to restricted productivity.

Now Charlton has secured a £35,000 funding package from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, managed by Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF).

The training will allow staff to gain further skills and broaden their career prospects, whilst also answering the hospitality sectors call for more skilled workers.

Government funding also supports the training side of the business. Charlton Recruitment offer the course to people claiming government benefits to support them back into employment.

Ms Cookson said: “We wanted to expand into delivering hospitality training to compliment the recruitment agency we already had in place, and also to help unemployed people to get back into work.

“We are now able to provide people with our training courses, which leave them with a Level 2 qualification in hospitality and a route into the hospitality sector.”

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is backed by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund.