Jobs drive as GLL bucks the recession trend

One of the country's leading leisure social enterprises is bucking the economic trend by launching a major recruitment drive, thanks to a new government initiative.

London-based Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) is looking to fill 150 vacancies in the capital and south east of England following the introduction of free swimming across the UK for under-16s and the over-60s.

A mixture of full-time and part-time jobs will range from customer services to lifeguards in around 30 of GLL's leisure centres. Recruitment takes place this month and next.

It's good news for GLL, which was forced to make around 80 redundancies earlier this year after being stung with a £4m utility bill (see Social Enterprise, February 2009).

Mark Sesnan, managing director of GLL, said: ‘We are strong supporters of the government's free swimming initiative and have already seen it result in an increasing demand for swimming facilities across the capital and as such we're expecting a very busy spring and summer period.

‘We're delighted to be able to offer some positive news to those looking for employment within the leisure sector during these difficult times.'

The new employees, who will all be recruited locally to the leisure centres, will also have a chance to get closer to the Olympic action as GLL is a major training resource for those training and competing in the 2012 games.

Gerry Sutcliffe, minister for sport, said: ‘In a difficult economic climate, it is great to see new jobs being created by GLL, with the prospect of people, young and old, gaining new skills from working in an increasingly important sector of the economy, as well as helping establish free swimming across London.'

Details on all of the positions and downloadable application forms are available atwww.gll.org/careers