Thousands turn out for Telford jobs fair
They came in their thousands – from school pupils looking to take their first steps into the world of work to pensioners looking for a new start.
They all descended on Telford International Centre to learn more about apprenticeships.
The Apprenticeship Show at Telford International Centre was hosted by Telford & Wrekin Council's Job Box programme throughout yesterday in partnership with the British Army, the UK's biggest employer of apprentices.
It aimed to show the opportunities in the Army and civilian sectors. Coach trips were put on from schools all over Shropshire for the event, held to mark National Apprenticeship Week, which runs until today.
Pupils in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 at schools in the borough were invited to attend the event to find out about the opportunities available to them. But there is now no upper age limit so all job seekers in the borough were encouraged to take a look at what an apprenticeship could offer.
The British Army is the UK's biggest apprenticeship employer and has over 40 different schemes for specialists, including catering, IT, bricklaying, logistics, construction, engineering and animal care.
Staff Sergeant Mickey Bushell, a careers adviser for the Army in its Shrewsbury office, said it was the first time such a show had ever been run in Telford and it was one of the biggest of its type in the country.
"We just want to highlight the benefits of doing an apprenticeship with the Army," he said. "You will be on a full salary and have a guaranteed job at the end – 8,000 people completed their apprenticeships in the Army last year and there are up to 18,000 on apprenticeships at any one time."
More than 40 local and national businesses were also represented at the event, including Wrekin Housing Trust, Epson, CapGemini, NHS, Jaguar Land Rover, Carillion, TDS Academy, Fabweld, Ricoh and Grainger and Worrall. They also included Babcock, the firm which re-conditions military fighting equipment at MoD Donnington. Training instructor Paul Biddulph said there would be at least 10 apprenticeships offered to people this year.
The Job Box has hosted a jobs fair for the past two years and last year hosted a skills festival and welcomed more than 7,000 job seekers and young people to these events.
Councillor Gilly Reynolds, cabinet member for employment and skills at Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the excellent turnout – we have had more young people from local schools than at previous job fair events.
"But we also hope that the event will help to dispel some of the misconceptions around apprenticeships, for example that they are only for 16-year-olds."
