1,000 people visit North Yorkshire job fair (From York Press)

1,000 people visit North Yorkshire job fair

8:18am Thursday 22nd September 2011 in News By Dan Bean, dan.bean@thepress.co.uk

MORE than 1,000 people from around North Yorkshire visited an event which offered advice, help and encouragement to unemployed jobseekers.

The Selby Jobs Fair, held in the Abbey Leisure Centre yesterday, had stalls from 50 companies, employment and training facilities, and advice centres.

Nigel Adams, the MP for Selby and Ainsty, organised the fair after pledging to help the region’s unemployed during his election campaign. He said he hoped the event would prove successful enough to become a regular fixture.

He said: “It has been a huge success, with more than 800 people through the door in the first three hours, and it’s good to see some employers have recruited at the fair. People have seemed really positive about the fair. I have been very encouraged by what they said, and hope I shall be doing it at least twice a year.”

Simon Chapel, of Backup Technology, which is based at Thorpe Park, near Leeds, said the standard of people who had visited his company’s stall had been very high, and he was confident that a number of the CVs which had been handed in would lead to permanent job offers.

He said: “We have been really impressed with the quality of candidates we have seen.

“I think it’s great that Nigel has done this. Putting politics aside, we need to do this. We constantly try to recruit, but today we get to see 1,000 people rather than using agencies or word of mouth.”

Peter Harrington, of Selby-based SimVenture, said: “This is a really good example of what needs to be done to get people back into work. I think everyone who came here today will get something out of it.”

Representatives from stands around the hall, including online retailer Amazon, Sainsbury’s, NHS North Yorkshire and York, Clipper Logistics and others, said they were confident that a number of recruitments would be made.

Mr Adams said: “This is exactly what I wanted to happen, matching employers with jobseekers and opportunities.”

In total, 1,136 people attended the fair.