Employment prospects for the Sussex workforce are healthy, despite a series of setbacks to the economy.

Factories are opening, shops and offices are expanding and many firms are reporting a shortage of suitable recruits in specialist fields.

Project Rolls-Royce is probably the best-known business choosing to relocate to Sussex but it is not the only one.

The luxury car maker is looking for skilled people and will eventually have more than 400 workers at its new Goodwood factory.

Smaller but still important to the local economy is electronics firm Tenkay which has opened a new factory in Lancing, doubling its workforce to 60.

Mike Flint, production manager at the new plant, said the firm was recruiting but had found it difficult to get people with the necessary skills.

He said: "We offer training to people with potential but there is a real skills shortage out there."

Karen Cole, director of Crawley-based accountancy and insurance recruitment specialist Alexander Lloyd, said employers across a range of industries were in urgent need of qualified accountants.

She said: "The travel industry in particular wants people with good accountancy skills. Not long ago, it was making people redundant but now they are in demand. This is the industry's busy time and it needs to recruit urgently.

"In the Worthing and Chichester districts, people with knowledge of the procedures of manufacturing industry are most in demand.

"We have clients across Sussex and in most parts of the county there are vacancies at all levels. During May, the last month for which we have figures, there was a 24 per cent monthly increase in the "This shows a very healthy economy."

In Chichester, a new factory is being built for Carte Blanche, the largest manufacturer and distributor of greetings cards in the South-East.

Mike Hayward. of the Chichester Economic Forum, said the factory would be the biggest on the Chichester Business Park.

"We are continuing to attract businesses to this area and have some real success stories. Firms that started small here have become big names, like the Iron Bed Company, Nature's Way and Montezuma's Chocolate and have spread the reputation of the area as being a great place to locate."

In Brighton Nurselink, a recruitment agency for the nursing and care sectors, has opened an office after the success of its operation in Eastbourne.

The Construction Industry Training Board estimates more than 77,000 new recuits to the building industry in the South East will be needed over the next five years.

The occupations with the biggest requirements will be carpenters and joiners, electricians, bricklayers, roofers and plumbers.

Mark Froud, who takes over as chief executive of Sussex Enterprise this month, said predictions were for a 0.3 per cent increase in the county's workforce.

He said: "The local economy is stable and we forecast slight economic growth in the next two years.

"There is likely to be a decline in agriculture and the leisure industry but most other sectors will continue to grow.

"We are waiting to see what affect the increase in National Insurance contributions will have. We may have to revise our forecast.

"We have been through some difficult times but now everything is calmer."