Member Article

‘Fantastic’ Leeds Digital Job Fair delivers for employers

Exhibitors have lined up to praise last week’s Leeds Digital Job Fair 3.0 which brought them together with graduates, tech professionals and job seekers at the First Direct Arena where an estimated 500 career opportunities were on offer.

Asda, Sky Betting & Gaming, Barclays, NHS Digital, Jet2.com & Jet2holidays, Morrisons and Callcredit were some of the big name employers that attended the event organised by online jobs board Herd with support from LeedsBID, Leeds City Council, Leeds Beckett University and the First Direct Arena.

Theresa Lindsay, Head of Marketing at Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance, said: “If you’re looking to get in front of some of the best IT talent in the region, then the Leeds Digital Job Fair is definitely the place to do it.

“We’re making multi-million pound investments in technology at Hitachi Capital to support the rapid growth of our consumer finance business and as a result we’re constantly looking for a range of skills, from developers and UX designers, alongside business analysts and project managers, all of which we met in one day. You just couldn’t have achieved the connections we made in such a short time frame outside an event like this.

“It’s a real vote of confidence in the strength of the city’s IT expertise and a great platform to showcase the opportunities.”

Tom Walton, Director of Infinity Works, said: “It’s absolutely brilliant having a job fair like this. It shows that Leeds is on the map and you don’t have to go to London to find companies that are really riving and delivering new technologies in new, innovative ways.”

Leanne Mosby, Manager of Quality Engineering at LexisNexis, said: “What a fantastic event, it was great to see the next generation of technical graduates attending and seeking their next step on the career ladder.

“We had a large number of people visiting the LexisNexis stand and chatting with our developers and testers to learn more about our products and culture.”

The event also won a glowing endorsement from Gwen Diagram of Yorkshire Digital, a hub for the region’s digital and tech community.

She said: “The Leeds Digital Job Fair has been such a welcome addition to Leeds, it’s a fantastic place to find out what companies are in Leeds and what roles are available.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure to be able to represent Yorkshire Digital at the job fair, the local Leeds tech community has so much to offer and we love seeing new faces at all the tech events around Leeds. The questions that the attendees asked this year were a lot more focused than previously so the work put into this year’s event has really shown.

“It’s fantastic that technology as a career is getting easier to break into and the Leeds Digital Job Fair is a big influence in that.”

Andrew Cooper, Chief Executive of LeedsBID, which supported and funded the event, said: “It is great to see the Leeds Digital Job Fair going from strength to strength, with its third outing in Leeds.

“Support on the day from both employers and those interested in pursuing a career in the industry illustrates its important role in helping to highlight Leeds’ position at the forefront of the skills agenda in the tech, creative and digital sectors and the range of opportunities available in the city.”

Herd founder and event organiser Amy De-Balsi said: “The digital and tech is hugely important to the economy across the Leeds City Region. Wages have gone up by 30 per cent in the last three years and the sector is contributing enormously to local growth and prosperity.

“The Leeds Digital Job Fair is vital in bringing employers who are creating so many new, well-paid vacancies together with the highly-motivated, highly-skilled workforce that we now have in the region.

“The success story goes on and Herd is proud to be playing our part in quickening the pace of achievement in local digital and tech.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Barry White .