Berry Recruitment has appointed a new Regional Director to run its three branches in Southampton and Gosport – an economy with more vacancies than workers.

The highly experienced Max Perceau now heads up the Berry Recruitment Southampton offices as well as the branch in Gosport.

Having a cluster of branches in the Solent area enables the company to serve its clients more efficiently and also offer more roles to job-hunters.

The Berry Recruitment branches offer permanent and temporary jobs in a variety of sectors.

These include driving, hospitality, catering, industrial, warehouse, office and professional and construction – as well as roles for events.

Max said: “I have worked for Berry Recruitment in Southampton for a number of years and previously worked for the branch that Berry acquired. We have a large team over the three branches that understands the area and the employment market extremely well. You can’t buy experience and we have a great deal here which benefits both candidates and businesses."

“The Solent area is proving strong with high employment and businesses growing in a variety of sectors. Workers remain in high demand and unless companies get the staff they need they won’t fulfil their potential – and that is why recruitment companies are so important."

“We have many large clients who rely on us to provide their workers and the market really is candidate-driven. The need for staff will grow in the run-up to Christmas with retail, driving, warehouse, catering and hospitality all recruiting. The outlook for the branches and the local economy is positive with businesses really looking to grow and expand.”

Max has taken over from Angela Milne, who recently stepped down after a 25-year career in the recruitment industry. After working for a big recruiter in Southampton, Angela set up Green Personnel in 1999. She expanded and soon had branches in Gosport and Eastleigh and a number of large clients in the region.

Her success attracted the attention of Berry Recruitment and in October 2012 she sold the business to Berry Recruitment and agreed to stay on for a year – but carried on for another 11 because she loved it so much.

Berry Recruitment works from nearly 40 locations in England and Wales and has recently launched the Berry Recruitment jobs app to help people find local work quickly and easily.