L-R: Malcolm Armstrong, Donna Barker, Nicola Henderson, David Armstrong and Kate Veitch

Despite challenging times in the training sector, one north east company is bucking the trend by expanding, with the recruitment of four new staff.

Gateshead based Access Training has appointed Nicola Henderson as a Trainer, Donna Barker as Business Development Manager, David Armstrong as Assistant Finance Manager and Kate Veitch as an apprentice.

The company has seen recent growth thanks to the launch of training courses for the unemployed and the appointment of a number of subcontractors which has widened its services. Access, which is the only training provider in Tyne and Wear to achieve the Training Quality Standard, now has a total of 23 employees.

Business Development Manager, Donna Barker, from Wallsend said: "In this economy, having a skilled, reliable workforce has never been so important. My role is to work with businesses in the region to help them take on apprentices and develop their employees so they can be as competitive as possible."

Nicola Henderson will deliver sales and IT training to learners who are unemployed to help them get back into the workplace.

David Armstrong is the son of the company's Managing Director, Malcolm, and is key to the company's succession planning. David has been appointed to the finance department to work on supporting business growth.

Kate Veitch is an apprentice and responsible for administration and helping to link learners with apprenticeship opportunities on the National Apprenticeship Vacancy system. She supports learner inductions and arranges learner interviews.