A RED-FACED recruitment website has been forced to apologise after mixing up the names of a national gambling firm and a Borders town to create rumours that a casino would be opening, writes Kenny Paterson.
Reed.co.uk mistakenly listed 19 jobs with national chain Gala Casino in ‘Galashiels, Selkirkshire’, but removed the adverts on Tuesday after discovering its mistake.
The vacancies have now reappeared on the website with the real locations across the UK – which range from Aberdeen to Cardiff.
But the error has left many job seekers and gamblers in Galashiels disappointed.
Mark Rhodes, marketing director of Reed.co.uk told TheSouthern: “There were a handful of jobs advertised in Galashiels for Gala Casino.
“Unfortunately due to a technical error the jobs were posted for the wrong location.
“They have now been removed from our website. We will be writing to all applicants to apologise for the error.”
Mr Rhodes added: “I understand the technical difficulty was due to mistaking Gala Casino for Galashiels.
“I don’t know how many people applied but we will be writing to them all.”
Reed.co.uk posted 16 Galashiels-based vacancies last Tuesday for a range of posts such as poker dealer, gaming inspector and chef, and added another three on Monday.
But a spokeswoman for Gala Casino confirmed on Monday it had no plans to open any facilities in the town, and less than 24 hours later the adverts were pulled by Reed.co.uk.
Galashiels Chamber of Trade chairman David Houston said the community was “jumping” last weekend as residents discussed the prospect of a new casino.
He added: “The whole town was buzzing about it. Whether that was because it was new jobs or because a casino was coming, I’m not sure.
“It is disappointing because it would have been new jobs for the town.
“There was a thought when the jobs appeared that it could be a cock-up between the names of the company and town, but when further posts were added on Monday it seemed to confirm a casino would be opening.”
Earlier this month, Gala agreed to sell off 19 of its casinos to rival Rank in a £179million deal.