LESS than a month after the Remploy factory in Poole closed its doors for the last time, one employee is already celebrating a new job.

Julie Arnold, who is deaf but can lip-read perfectly and was given new cochlear implants six months ago, is the new stitch machinist at Cut’n’Cover.

She will now be working full-time for the company, a family business which specialises in making and repairing marine covers.

Director Wayne Roberts said: “We had been looking for a stitch machinist for quite a while.

“We’d had two or three starting but it had turned out that it wasn’t their cup of tea. When Remploy closed, I made a few phone calls to see if they had anyone suitable, and that’s how we ended up finding Julie.”

Mrs Arnold, who worked at Remploy as supervisor for three years, has been deaf since the age of five.

She said: “It was very sad when Remploy closed.

“We were all living in hope right up until the last minute. We were a family unit.

“There are some people there who may never work again.

“It was an upsetting situation.”

Sixteen disabled and two able-bodied people were left without work after the Remploy factory closed in late October.

The government decided to close 36 out of 54 Remploy factories earlier this year, forcing many people with disabilities out of their jobs.

Mrs Arnold said: “I’m glad to be working here.

“It’s a big change – I’ve gone from working with a lot of people to just two others, but I’m pleased to be here.”

She said that she knows of two other former colleagues who have so far gone on to find work.

Mr Roberts, who called the closure of the factory “tragic”, said: “It’s worked out well for everyone here, and we’re really pleased Julie is working with us now.”