Hereford’s Shell Store has hosted its biggest business event to date — opening its doors to more than 100 organisations for a jobs and networking fair organised by employment and training charity, Landau.
Television presenter and former Top Gear host Richard Hammond, who owns a motor restoration and engineering business on Skylon Park, formally opened the event on April 27.
Nearly 50 businesses with job opportunities exhibited under the iconic steel roof of the Shell Store business incubation centre for the Landau event, which was supported by the Marches Growth Hub business support service and Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce.
Exhibitors covered a range of industries and sectors and included Balfour Beatty, Wye Valley NHS Trust, Barclays Bank, Lidl and West Mercia Police.
As well as businesses with job opportunities and dozens of job seekers attending the event, Landau said more than 90 people had registered to attend a business networking session that was held as part of the event.
Phil Taylor, chief operations officer for Landau, said: “We’re very grateful to Richard Hammond for coming along to open our event at the Shell Store. It was the perfect venue for our exhibitors to share details of jobs they have on offer and for new and growing businesses to network, some of them for the first time since pandemic restrictions lifted.
“As a charity that works to prepare people for employment, the event was also a chance for attendees to meet with employability experts and organisations that can help job seekers maximise their skills to achieve their job goals.”
Mark Pearce, managing director of Skylon Park, Hereford Enterprise Zone, added: “We have held several high-profile events at the Shell Store in recent months, but this was the best attended yet and really showcased the facilities that we can offer businesses.
“Landau put on a fantastic event, supported by the Zone and Marches Growth Hub team and it was great to see the car park full and a good mix of businesses networking and sharing opportunities.”
Landau annually helps in the region of 3,000 individuals back into the workplace or into training schemes through its specialist support. Last year it was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its work in Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility).