A recruitment company in Birmingham is bucking the economic trend by opening a new division specialising in the healthcare and support sector.

Aspire People, which places teaching and office staff into schools across the Midlands, will now also be recruiting care assistants, nurses and social workers for care homes and respite units.

Aspire Care & Support launches on Monday (14), with two new experienced members of staff coming on board.

Tracy Archer and Natalie Williams will be heading the division. Both have come from recruitment agency Healthcare Direct.

Company director Michaela Powell said: "Many recruitment companies are closing branches and making staff redundant.

"With all the doom and gloom of late, I wanted to invest money into breaking into the healthcare sector.

"I saw a gap in the market for a healthcare recruitment agency that is purely honest and safe.

"We wanted to use our expertise from the education sector to raise standards in the healthcare recruitment sector.

"We recently got 100 per cent in our Department for Education recruitment audit and will continue to use our methods in the healthcare recruitment sector."

Aspire People, which was founded in 2004, scooped the Best Business for Work Life Balance award in 2007 and 2008.

Also, the firm has taken on six new consultants in the last six months for the education division.