Herald puts Andy back in picture with new job

FORMER cinema projectionist Andy Frood has seen his career come back into focus after landing a new job.

The 40-year-old from Staddiscombe started work on Monday at the new Money Group call centre in Honicknowle.

Andy is delighted, and thanked The Herald for featuring him in the Get Hired campaign – and helping him land the job.

"I've managed to get a job full-time with the Money Group as a telesales person at its new site in Plymouth," Andy told The Herald. "So it's back to work for me.

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"In my interview The Herald and the Get Hired campaign were mentioned.

"I want to thank The Herald for putting me in the paper.

"I also told them my plight and they were pretty shocked to hear about what's happened in the cinema industry – but everyone is shocked by that."

What happened in the cinema industry was that cinemas swapped rolls of film for digital projectors last year.

It meant the end of 120 years of using celluloid, and the final credits for hundreds of projectionists who lost their jobs in the switch to a computer controlled digital format.

Andy was one of them. He had worked as a cinema projectionist since leaving school, aged 16, with only a few years out when he had other jobs.

His last post was as head projectionist at a large cinema in Rochester, Kent, leading a team of three others.

The former Plymstock Comprehensive student began his career at the city's former Cannon cinema, before transferring to its Bristol branch.

After that he worked at Plymouth cinemas including those now known as Vue and Reel, when under former owners. He also worked at numerous movie houses across the country, including spells in Worcester, Slough, Chatham, Hartlepool, Exeter, London and Newport.

His only break from the industry came between 2003 and 2006 when he spent some time working in a factory and as a computer repair technician, after being made redundant.

But he was headhunted to go back into cinemas again.

Unfortunately, he was made redundant by the Cineworld chain in March, joining more than 600 other projectionists thrown to the wolves by cinema companies.

He returned to Plymouth but found work surprisingly hard to come by despite being experienced, with qualifications and a proven management background.

So he approached The Herald in November to be featured in our Get Hired campaign in the hope an employer would offer him work.

Now he's looking forward to 2013 and said: "The main thing is I'm back in work."

Cornish financial management company the Money Group announced in November it would open a call centre in Plymouth and has launched a recruitment drive to hire up to 300 workers.

It turned Hatfield House, in Burrington Way, into a call centre for its financial management services, where staff will be recruited in three waves of 100, with the aim of employing 300 people in Plymouth by autumn 2013.

The Herald is looking for other job hunters to be featured in Get Hired in 2013. If you would like to feature, contact William Telford on 01752 765529 or wtelford@theplymouthherald.co.uk