AWARD-winning Hartlepool recruitment firm WorkWise has opened an office in Bishop Auckland.

The move is the next stage in the company's plans to revolutionise the North-East employment agency market by setting up in areas poorly served by the remote city centre satellite offices of national recruitment agencies.

Nikki Williams, WorkWise operations manager, said: "As in most types of business, there is no substitute for a recruitment firm being close to its customers.

"For some time now our existing client base in County Durham has been telling us they need someone who is much more local to them.

"Our new venture, which comes on the back of a period of sustained business growth, provides an opportunity to meet this gap in the local employment marketplace."

Nikki returned from working in a London recruitment agency in 1996 to establish her business in her home town of Hartlepool.

Just 18-months later she picked up an award for "Best Small Business" at the Tees Valley Training and Enterprise Council's Small Business Awards.

WorkWise will be offering local employment opportunities from the Bishop Auckland office, covering sections such as manufacturing, transport and distribution, commercial, construction and engineering.