Amid the doom and gloom on the jobs front here in Berkshire, an influential UK jobs website reports the first glimmer of hope for the Royal County.
Careers and Jobs UK dotcom say Berkshire jobs and the county as a whole are set to improve due to a series of new expansions.
Firstly, the Barkham post office revamp has been given the green light after an excruciating long-running bid. The new site will not only be an improved post office but previous dead space will be put to good use also. It will be replaced with a one-storey shop and two, two-storey houses each with its own garage.
These developments will bring new residents to the area and create jobs in Berkshire during the construction process.
A second expansion is that of The Greyhound pub in Finchampstead, which has been taken over by Urban & Country Leisure after being closed down for two years.
“When we discovered The Greyhound, we just couldn’t believe that such a fantastic pub has been left to rot for so long,” said Dan Shotton, operations director from Urban & Country Leisure. “Finchampstead and the surrounding community deserve much better, and I’m confident that everyone who visits us will fall in love with the place,” he added.
The pub is currently in the final stages of its £750,000 refurbishment and will open its doors later this month on 20 June. It could lure many tourists to the area and could also create new jobs in Finchampstead.
Another development is Wokingham Borough Council’s grant of £1.4 million to spend on three new children’s centres across Wokingham. Some of the money will also be spend on finishing the Rainbow Park centre in Winnersh.
“It is very pleasing to receive this money and be able to continue with the project,” said Councillor Rob Stanton, executive member for children’s services.
These centres offer ante and post natal classes and improve parents skills by teaching them activities to help with their children development. They also teach parents general job related skills in order to assist parents with finding jobs.
Radio Bracknell’s Director, John Hicks, commented that “I share Careers and Jobs UK Dotcom’s note of optimism. We have detected the first blades of grass appearing on the ground locally. They are only small and, undoubtedly, some will wither but the good feeling this generates will encourage others to think about how their business will be ready for the upturn as and when it happens.”
“Our own jobs web pages on Radio Bracknell dotcom, have a growing number of vacancies after the stagnation of the last few months. Let us all hope that this is maintained.” John added.
