Town-wide Careers Fair Inspires Future Workforce

Last week, The Fylde Coast Responsible Business Network (RBN) held its annual Careers Fair at the Winter Gardens & Blackpool Conference And Exhibition Centre. Returning for its third year, the event is an opportunity for Year 9 students from schools across Blackpool to meet businesses and explore careers that are available to them in the future. It’s also a chance for them to speak to higher and further education providers to learn more about the different pathways and training available to them after leaving school.

The event was led by Business in the Community, but with support from Lancashire Careers Hub and Blackpool Council’s Youth Advisors, with funding provided from the Blackpool Youth Futures Foundation partnership.

Throughout the day, a mix of 38 businesses and Higher/Further Education providers welcomed over 1,500 Year 9 students from 13 mainstream, SEND and PRU schools from across Blackpool. Ahead of the event, each school was partnered with a business who were exhibiting at the Careers Fair with the brief to arrange a pre-visit activity (and post-visit where possible) to ensure that the event is part of a process of meaningful employer encounters rather than a one-off engagement.

Our objectives for the event:

• Young people to understand the variety of careers and opportunities available to them on the Fylde Coast (and beyond), linking to LMI (Labour Market Information) data and future opportunities such as GCHQ/ digital
• Young people to understand the various pathways into employment/ careers (Further Education, Apprenticeships, T-Levels etc)
• Inspire young people into careers they had not previously considered
• Educate young people as to what skills employers expect from them in the workplace
• Inform young people about what employers provide for employees in the workplace

New for this year, and in response to student feedback, an explainer video was written and performed by Blackpool Council’s Youth Advisor team and filmed by Blackpool and The Fylde College Media students. The video is to help explain to Year 9 students what to expect at the Career Fair and how to make the most out of the event. This can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/ZHzBXI4TaFQ

Huge thanks to members of the RBN who give up their time and resource to make this event such a success, many having supported the event for the third year running. We were delighted to welcome new businesses too such as Coastal Radio DAB and Tandem Bank, showcasing careers in broadcasting and financial services respectively.

Special thanks must also go to our fabulous volunteers from DWP Digital who ensure our students navigate the zones and interact with employers, keep track of time, and support our exhibitors. We couldn’t do it without you!

With funding secure, the date of Wednesday 28 January 2026 has been pencilled in. Please do reach out to Michelle.Walker@bitc.org.uk to secure your spot early!