A FORMER Woolworths employee in Honiton has been a great catch for another business in the town.

A FORMER Woolworths employee in Honiton has been a great catch for another business in the town.

Jonathan Board, 19, was made redundant when Woolies, formerly in Lace Walk, shut last December.

He was unemployed - until JobCentre Plus in Honiton put him in touch with Paul Sibthorpe and Susan Jones, who have taken over the fish monger's shop in New Street.

Jonathan told the Herald: "I was getting really worried about finding another job as I hadn't worked since I was made redundant from Woolworths.

"Having the chance to try this job on a work trial was brilliant.

"I'd never thought of being a fish monger, but I'm really enjoying the work."

JobCentre adviser Dave Clarke said: "As Jonathan lost his job as part of a large scale redundancy, he was eligible for help from an earlier stage and we could arrange a work trial for him.

"On top of that, he was also eligible for a recruitment subsidy. This was exactly the sort of support the employers were looking for."

Susan Jones, Jonathan's new employer, said: "Working as a team with the JobCentre Plus office in Honiton to find suitable applicants all went smoothly - from the interviews to work trials and finally employing people.

"The work trials gave us a chance to ensure we had the right people and the �1,000 employer subsidy for Jonathan was a bonus."

Ms Jones added: "Being a small company, it has helped us immensely with travel costs to send both Jonathan and Caroline, our other new employee, to our outlet in Teignmouth for training.

"This will now continue with the assistance of this subsidy until they are fully trained.