Thursday March 22-22, 2004

www.jarvis-exhibitions.com.

Britain's premier recruitment, careers and training fair, Careers and Jobs Live, has celebrated a record event with attendance figures up 30% on last year. The show, which was officially opened by Jim Fitzpatrick MP Poplar and Canning Town constituency and Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, brought thousands of job, training and upskilling opportunities to people of all ages and backgrounds and enjoyed a footfall of 20,000 people.

'It has been a record event', explained Bruce Birchall, Exhibition Director. "The show is now the country's largest, most successful careers, recruitment, training and education exhibition. It is the fourth show we have held at ExCeL London since its opening and it has exceeded all expectations - growing year on year to make this week's show a phenomenal success. And the feedback has been tremendous from exhibitors who have mentioned that it is not just the boost in footfall that was so positive but the quality of attendees and diversity of applicants that made this show one to celebrate."

The Thames Gateway Learning and Jobs Zone, which was a new feature this year was also commended with its emphasis on local jobs to support the Thames Gateway community, providing a spotlight on local opportunities for employers and potential employees within the area.

Jim Fitzpatrick, MP for Poplar and Canning Town commented: "I was extremely impressed with the quality of exhibitors at Careers & Jobs Live. They certainly had many good opportunities on offer for the people of London and indeed all of Britain. The new Thames Gateway Learning and Jobs Zone was a great new feature giving a real boost to local jobseekers and businesses alike. The show attracted a great mix of people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, there really was something for everyone. I hope to be able to attend next years show and see more success stories develop."

Equally impressed was Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham: "I was really encouraged by Careers & Jobs Live event held in ExCeL London here in Newham. It was gratifying to see real efforts being made to kick-start employment in the Thames Gateway area. Regeneration is very important to me and I think many of the organisations exhibiting recognise the need for new talent in certain areas of the country. Employers such as the army, the NHS and Tesco were enthusiastic about the numbers and variety of candidates who approached them about careers. I am sure Careers & Jobs Live will build on this success in future years."

The Satsuma Consultancy spearheaded this area of the show, Director, Godwin Ohajah said: "The ExCeL Londonlent feedback from exhibitors has proved that the new Thames Gateway Learning & Jobs Zone was an important and well received feature - with many exhibitors already talking about booking again for next year. The sponsor support from London Riverside, the Learning & Skills Council, East London IAG and Read in Partnership was also extremely important and naturally very much appreciated, ensuring that every visitor was able to receive the very best in terms of job information, training and advice. Importantly the business support stands received over 300 written enquiries and 1000’s of verbal enquiries, proving that self-employment is considered a serious option for many people."

Quotes from exhibitors:

Liza Alger, Project Manager, Thames Gateway London Stansted Project

We have had a fantastic response. We are hoping to feed a good majority of people who have filled out enquiry forms onto the programme. Our aim was to promote awareness and this has been achieved. We will definitely come back as the show has been very worthwhile for us."

Michelle Lambert, Resourcing Officer, British Gas Recruitment Centre

The diversity of people at Careers and Jobs Live is just what we are looking for as it is important to us to reflect the diverse customer base we have developed at British Gas. The show has been an ideal vehicle to fill the engineer and modern apprenticeship vacancies we have on offer.

Graham Arnold, Project Manager, Connexions Careers Management Futures

"The show has been a phenomenal success, large numbers of young people and adults have sought careers advice. People have come from all over East Anglia and London. The show has also been great for us to network with other exhibitors".

Kieran Mander, H.R. Project Manager, Tesco PLC

"We have had a large ethnic mix approaching us and have taken 600 applications. It has also been a great opportunity to tell people about our variety of jobs, from management to I.T. We wanted to encourage people to join our options programme, which involves studying and training at the same time. In general this has been one of the more successful careers shows for us."

Zoe Gordon, Schools Recruitment Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers
It has been very busy and we have met lots of interesting graduates and undergraduates. We do a lot of school leaver recruitment so it has been interesting to meet students and their teachers. We have had a good mix of enquiries."

Tranquility Emmerton, strategic HR administrator, NHS - N.E. London

The show has gone well. We have had a lot of I.T. specialisation enquiries, which is an area we needed to promote. We have also spoken to a lot of school leavers, especially girls, who are interested in nursing. We would come back especially if it was on a bigger scale."

Kay Morris, Operations Development Manager, Britvic

The show has been even better than last year for us. There has been a good flow of people and we have doubled our application handout. We will definitely be booking for next year."

Corporal Ady Tarrant, RAF Careers Recruiter, Royal Airforce

"There have been a good range of people from different backgrounds. We have had a lot of genuine interest, particularly from A-level students thinking of their next move."

Lindsay Smith, Promotions, The Learning & Skills Council

"We have had a lot of interest from our target audience of 16-24 year olds. We provide training and can help people gain NVQ's who left school without any qualifications. We were interested to meet both parents and teachers who wanted to encourage youngsters to think again about education. We would come back next year, the facilities were ExCeL Londonlent."

To enquire about future Careers and Jobs Live events contact Bruce Birchall, Jarvis Exhibitions, on 020 8464 4129.