Jo Hand Recruitment is beating the recession by winning six contracts worth an estimated £10m to fill jobs over the next two to six years.

The contracts are with Darlington and Stockton borough councils and the others with major companies, which were not identified, in the Tees Valley. The wins came within the last two months.

The company, with offices in Middlesbrough and Darlington, supplies temporary and permanent office staff, and catering workers and cleaners for schools. Two of the contracts involve both permanent and temporary staff, and the other four involve temps only, Hand told Recruiter.

She says that clients have said her company’s local expertise, along with its service offering, had set them apart from competitors.

Hand also says that her firm has had more permanent vacancies in June than in the last 12 months. “That’s a definite sign that things are getting better,” she told Recruiter.

Launched in 2006, Jo Hand Recruitment has built up a base of more than 150 clients. The company has had to take on three additional staff, joining five other fee earners, to handle the workload, the website report said.