A COMPANY in Aylesham has set up a recruitment arm to try and get local people into work.

A&M Training Services, based in Ratling Road in the village, is an industry-accredited forklift truck training company but is now also assisting its trainees find prospective employers to get into work.

A&M not only helps with forklift training but also other plant industrial machinery training.

The company as a whole has been going for 13 years, but the recruitment section was only set up last month.

So far, it has ploughed in £5,000 setting up the recruitment arm and has got four trainees into jobs. The firm says that alone could amass a turnover of £500,000 for the company.

A&M supplies workers to major companies such as Silver Spring in Folkestone and Donaldsons Timber in Ashford.

Recruitment manager Phillip Newland is looking to help bring down the unemployment figures in the district.

He said: "It is very important for us to try and get people working to them.

"We often have trainees leave us with their qualifications but employers don't know what they are like as a person.

"We have set up our recruitment side to give them good references and ensure that they get the jobs they deserve.

"We train people how to use plant machinery.

"What we see as quite a small investment in our recruitment section could reap dividends, not only for us but for our trainees as well.

"We offer a high quality of training at competitive prices.

"There are not many companies like ours around in the district."

If you would like to take a training course at A&M, then visit the company's website on www. aandmtraining services.co.uk.