Army unveils plans for recruiting office (From This is Hampshire)

Army unveils plans for recruiting office

1:20pm Sunday 19th July 2009 in

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AN Army recruiting office is to open in Basingstoke next month.

The new centre will be housed in a shop space at 31 Wote Street, near the entrance to Festival Place.

Recruiting Sergeant Andy Liddicott said the office would help bridge a gap because the nearest offices were in Reading or Aldershot.

He told The Gazette: “We want to offer a focal point because at the moment we have no permanent presence.”

The office will be staffed full-time by recruiting officers, who will answer queries as well as carrying out suitability tests.

Sergeant Ally McCann said the aim is to demystify the Army and promote a range of job opportunities.

He said: “In the Army, we are notoriously bad at saying what we are about. Many people think of the combat side but there are many more trades and professions on offer.”

The office plans were revealed at an event by the Army Presentation Team at The Anvil, in Basingstoke.

The briefing by Army top brass gathered together local authority leaders and guests from the community in a bid to boost the profile of life in the modern-day services.

Major Lizzie Faithfull-Davies, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, said the Basingstoke office had been planned for a while.

The 33-year-old, originally from Dummer, said: “We are always trying to make sure that we can tap into the local community and position ourselves somewhere accessible.”

Brigadier Miles Wade, the Commander of 145 (South) Brigade, the senior military commander in Hampshire, said there had been an upsurge in people enquiring in the South East about the services since the recession. He said job losses in construction and even the financial sector were leading to increased interest in the recruitment drive.