JET South Liverpool, which has received £25,000 from the GSK Community Development Fund, was established in 1996 to help local residents take advantage of the job opportunities being created in the area. Unemployment was then about 24 per cent and this year it's about 9 per cent.

To date, the organisation has been entirely public-sector funded. Over the last two years it has been developing specialist recruitment services for employers and gradually moving towards being employer-led in the delivery of its services.

Peter Millea, Chairman of JET, explained: "We charge employers for a number of the more specialist aspects of our work and you could now term JET a 'social enterprise', an organisation that ploughs all its profits back into the company."

Nick Hughes, JET Director, added: "The grant from GSK allowed us to secure 12 months mentoring support from a private sector recruitment company that has a track record of establishing successful franchises. They have provided training and ongoing expert advice that has allowed us to offer local companies staff on temporary contracts.

This is in direct response to requests by local businesses who liked the permanent staff we have helped them to recruit and wanted us to do the same for their temporary staff requirements.

This work is essential to ensure that the services we offer continue to allow local people to achieve their career aspirations in the future. We don't want to be continually dependent on public sector grants, we want to be self-sustaining and the GSK grant has helped us make a huge step towards this."