Future Talent & Recruitment Expo for Small Businesses Hull & East Yorkshire

Calling all small businesses! Are you looking to recruit new talent? Are you unsure who to speak to with regards to building your business workforce? Would you like to know more about many different talent and recruitment pathways?

Then why not come and join the HEY Growth Hub and HEY Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) team during Humber Business Week for our ‘Future Talent & Recruitment Expo for Small Businesses”?

The expo will provide a full overview of the region’s talent acquisition and recruitment support opportunities that are available for small businesses across Hull and East Yorkshire, all of which will help small firms to grow their teams, develop new talent and future-proof their workforce.

Attendees will have the opportunity to discover:

• How apprenticeships and industry placements can work for their business
• Information on the newly launched ‘Business Growth & Skills Levy’
• New government backed employer incentives for recruiting young people and apprentices, including the ‘Youth Jobs Guarantee’.
• Other routes to local talent, including student placements, internships and degree apprenticeships, amongst many others.
• The free advisory and support services that are available from local organisations including business support agencies, councils, Job Centre Plus, colleges and training providers, and many more.

This event will be the single largest gathering of colleges and training providers, employer support and business support organisations in Hull & East Yorkshire in 2026.

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with young talent, nearly twenty local training providers and business support organisations that will be in attendance as part of the event’s exhibitor marketplace, including the Department for Work & Pensions, Skills Bootcamps Hull & East Yorkshire, the University of Hull, Hull College and Bishop Burton College.

Event Agenda

• 10.00am – Arrival, drink refreshments, networking and expo drop in session (details below)

Structured Session

• 10.45am – Welcome & Introductions – Jon Brunton, Growth Hub Manager, Hull & East Yorkshire Combined Authority

• 10.50am – Keynote Address – Mayor Luke Campbell MBE, Hull & East Yorkshire Combined Authority

• 11am – Hear from an employer and former apprentice – Louise Bell Knight, Owner, Bell4Business, and Connor Docherty, Executive Director, Bell4Business

Expo Drop In Session 11.15am – 1pm

Event delegates are encouraged to explore our expo which features a wide range of training providers and advisory organisations. These are themed as follows:

1) Employer Advice Drop-Ins (Whiteley Suite). We have six themed tables hosted by experts, each covering a specific pathway of talent and recruitment:Apprenticeship Information & Guidance

• Talent Match Service & Recruitment Support
• Technical & Vocational Education Pathways
• Free Courses for Jobs & Sector Based Work Academies
• Degree Apprenticeships, Internships, Skills Bootcamps
• Business Growth & Skills Levy, Youth Guarantee and Employer Incentives

2) Employer Information, Advice & Guidance (Whiteley Suite). We have a number of agencies exhibiting that provide advice and guidance to employers on all aspects of recruitment pathways. These are:

• Log-On Move On Platform, Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) team – Invest East Yorkshire
• Pre-Apprenticeship Training & Study Programmes – Avant Training
• Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency – EN: Able Futures CIC and the Apprentice Employment Agency
• Training Centre & Pathways to Employment – Hull Business Training
• New Entrant Support Team – Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)
• Growth Hub & Local Skills Improvement Plan

3) Meet the Interns: Talent for your business (Hull FC Changing Room). We will have a number of talented young people who are currently undertaking supported internships. They are seeking future employment opportunities – come and meet them!

4) Colleges, Training Providers & Employment support (Hull FC Warm Up Area). We will have a number of organisations exhibiting at the expo, these include:

• Colleges & Training Providers: McArthur Dean, Motor Trades GTA, Grimsby College, East Riding College, HTAE
• Employment Support Providers: Hull City Council Employment Hub, DWP/Job Centre Plus, Probe Hull, East Riding Council Adult Social Care

EVENT CLOSE – 1pm

Event Eligibility

Any business from Hull & East Yorkshire with an interest in recruiting new talent to their organisation are welcome to attend this event.

This event is ideal for owners, leaders and managers of small businesses who are considering the recruitment of apprentices, trainees, t-level placement students or interns. This includes those who have previously explored the recruitment of an apprentice but did not proceed due to barriers faced.

It will be particularly useful for businesses that have not previously recruited an apprentice, trainee or intern, or who have not used their apprenticeship levy for workforce skills development.