A NATIONAL recruitment agency for the education sector has opened its first office in Cumbria.

Vision for Education - part of TES, formerly known as the Times Educational Supplement - has set up shop in Warwick Mill Business Village in Warwick Bridge with four staff.

It is one of the first agencies dedicated solely to the education sector to have a base in the county.

Vision for Education already has four offices in the north east, where it does most of its business, and also operations in several other areas including Sheffield, Lincoln and Peterborough.

Darren Starling, a senior development manager, explained that the firm is initially focusing its effort on north and west Cumbria.

He said: "There are a lot of similarities between Cumbria and the north east in that you have several deprived areas and lots of small rural school with very different challenges."

The agency covers primary and secondary schools and supplies specialists to work with youngsters with special educational needs. 

This year, across all of its offices, it has interviewed 1,170 people. Mr Starling said that not all went on to placements and that the agency was focused on getting the right staff in place for its clients.

"It can be anything from half a day to cover if someone is going to be off long-term," he said.

"What often happens is that schools will say to us they have only had a couple of applicants for a job. We can then advertise in the TES and we get a lot of applicants through this."

Another aspect of the firm's work is to help teachers who contact them to find new employment opportunities.

"Teachers will often rely on an agency to find them jobs rather than look for them themselves," Mr Starling said.

He added that some schools in Cumbria have already been in touch with him about using the agency's services and that he hopes to expand awareness of the work it does over the summer holidays.

The agency is involved in sponsorship in the north east and Mr Starling wants to investigate if something similar could be done in the UK.

He also has hopes that the company can open a second office in the south of the county.

Staff are currently travelling to Cumbria from other parts of the north and he would also like to see this change.

He said: "It is about building a base to then recruit people from Carlisle."

For more information, visit www.visionforeducation.co.uk.