A HOLIDAY park is on the lookout for new staff to join the team for the summer season.

Haven Lakeland at Flookburgh is on a major recruitment drive to hire around 350 people to work across the site for the upcoming season and have been running several schemes to try 'something different' around how they recruit.

People Administrator Robert Madigan started working at the park in June 2021 and said recruitment had been 'difficult' to get off the ground.

"This year we decided that when the season ended we were going to go straight into planning recruitment for this upcoming season," he said.

Robert said the park had successfully recruited around half of the staff they need for the 2022 season and they will be starting in the coming weeks.

New recruits will be offered a variety of roles from bar work, gardening, house keeping and customer service and will receive full training.

This year the holiday park has worked with job centres around Cumbria and North Lancashire and have also been attending job fairs to employ staff ready for the 2022 season.

Robert said: "We're looking to spread the net far and wide to work alongside agencies to get people back in work.

"Most of the work is seasonal but we can hire a more permanent team as well which will be a big attraction."

Robert said the perfect applicant is someone who has the 'can do attitude' and be 'positive'.

Since the opening day for recruits, Robert said around a third of the applicants have received job offers.

On whether or not parts of the park would have to close if enough staff are not recruited, Robert said: "We cross train our staff. Part of what came in last year is we cross trained across departments.

"If a department is struggling, especially with the 'pingdemic' - our kitchen and restaurant team fell victim to that and we were left with only a couple of members left in there - we all had to chip in."

Robert said there were times the staff could not manage so parts of the park were closed or they had to reduce the capacity of some activities.

Robert said: "This year we have had to start the recruitment drive early. It is a real team ethic now."