RECRUITMENT agency Adecco has celebrated its eight birthday in Canterbury with a champagne reception and visit from the city’s sheriff.

The company also invited clients, including Help the Aged, Siemens and Cheltenham and Gloucester, to the event at which the sheriff, Cllr Richard Parkinson, cut a special cake.

The branch began operating in the commercial recruitment sector, providing temporary staff for offices in the Canterbury area.

It has now grown into one of the biggest recruiters in the district providing job opportunities in the secretarial, sales, accounts and industrial sectors.

Branch manager, Debbie Thrift said: "We are extremely pleased to be celebrating eight years of business in Canterbury.

"The recruitment and economic climate over that time has changed dramatically and we have developed with it.

"Nowadays people's transferable skills are the key to the job market."

Next year the branch plans to expand by opening specialists divisions in retail and social care.