AN ALTRINCHAM-based recruitment company is setting its sights on the glamorous world of Formula One and other motorsports.

Worldwide Recruitment Solution (WRS) has set up a technical division to service the Formula One, Motorsport and Supply Chain sectors.

The move is in response to a surge in demand from the sector, and to complement their existing manufacturing offering.

Ian O’Callaghan has been appointed managing consultant to lead the growth of the automotive sector.

Ian has 20 years of cross-sector experience, having worked with globally recognised luxury brands, volume and premium manufacturing as well as cutting edge Formula One and other motorsport teams.

Ian said: “It’s an exciting time to launch this division. Since 2013 almost 65,000 young people began engineering apprenticeships and it is estimated that 50,000 automotive manufacturing jobs will need to be replaced by 2020.

"The last two years have seen exponential growth, industry developments and significant investment in the UK’s automotive future.”

“In this time Jaguar Land Rover created 1,400 new roles at its engine plant in Wolverhampton, Ford 318 jobs at its Dagenham offering and Bentley invested £40 million in R&D, creating 300 positions at the company’s Crewe headquarters. All of this growth has led to companies looking to recruit right across the sector.

“Our specialist team of recruiters work on vertical markets within quality and manufacturing, design and engineering and supply chain and logistics and, building on WRS’ successes within related engineering sectors, are ideally placed to help our clients achieve their organisational goals.”

Mark Brown, WRS’ CEO, added, “I’d like to personally welcome Ian on board and wish him every success. Off the back of a number of contract wins we’ve seen since the launch of our manufacturing division in early 2016, we identified opportunities in a number of other related fields, the most promising of which was automotive. As our offering develops we will also be looking into aeronautical engineering and other related sectors.

“Despite the difficulties faced in the energy and mining industries in recent years WRS has retained growth by opening up new markets; developing other areas of our clients’ core businesses and also through a process of internal diversification. Our strong standing now in various Engineering sectors means we are looking forward to further building on all of the sectors we service as we move forward in 2017.”