Rok recruiting 50-60 new employees a month

Rok is bucking the industry trend and is currently adding a further 50-60 employees to its payroll each month.

While the downturn is biting hard in other parts of the construction industry, Rok chief executive Garvis Snook said: “We are finding more people applying than ever.

“It follows the normal build sequence: first came the surge in bricklayers looking to work for us, then carpenters and these groups were followed by those with skills such as plastering and painting.

“The picture throughout the country is varied: some of our branches already have waiting lists while others are still setting up open days.

“We find that London and the South East are good, but things are changing rapidly. Scotland is good. The North West of England has slowed down, the North East is slowing and so is the South West.”

Snook feels that the industry spent a lot of time trying to avoid the last recession (1989-1993), but this time the speed of the fall into recession is a good thing, he believes.

“The sooner we hit bottom and bounce along a bit, then the sooner we get to the other side,” he said. “Am I worried? I have to say that I was more worried a year ago, when things where overheating, but now there are no micro-changes in the economy that we don’t know about.”