BORDONÕS long-awaited Jobcentre finally opens its doors on Monday to bring a major employment boost to the town.
Existing Liphook customers will be able to transfer to the new Bordon office or the existing offices in Petersfield or Alton.
The brand new office will be open three days a week and eventually provide a wide range of services to help jobseekers find employment and get advice about benefits.
The move comes after employment bosses agreed that the need for the service was greater in Bordon rather than in Liphook as more of its customers came from the town.
It also forms part of an overall strategy for East Hampshire whereby the three jobcentres will collectively provide a range of services in new-look offices renamed Jobcentre Plus.
An amalgamation of the some employment and benefit services will mean that all of these will be available at one of the three offices in the district. As a result, users needing specialist advice and help will no longer have to travel to Portsmouth or Guildford to get it.
Initially it was planned that the new Bordon office would open at the same time as new-look offices in Alton and Petersfield but problems in finding a new home for the Alton branch and the refurbishment of the Petersfield branch put an end to that ambition.
The Bordon branch will initially offer help and advice to those people looking for employment and to those claiming JobseekerÕs Allowance.
However, when refurbishment of Petersfield and Alton is complete, all three will begin to offer the wide range of Jobcentre Plus services to people of working age, helping them back to work and dealing with their benefits.
To launch the office next week, Bordon Jobcentre Plus business manager Rob Chapman will be welcoming customers and businesses as part of an open day.
Local employers been invited to drop in throughout the day to see for themselves what Jobcentre Plus has to offer them with recruitment services for matching jobseekers with vacancies.
Mr Chapman said: ÒJobcentre Plus provides a professional, efficient and user-friendly environment for people of working age who are looking for work or who need to claim benefits.
ÒAs well as using the most modern technology, including touch-screen Jobpoints displaying vacancies from all over the country and Europe, Jobcentre Plus provides a personally tailored service around the requirements of each individual.Ó
l The newly refurbished Bordon Jobcentre will open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 am to 12-15 pm and 1-30 pm to 4-30 pm.