Hundreds of jobs on offer at inaugural Leeds Digital Job Fair
HUNDREDS of jobs will be showcased at this year’s Digital Job Fair in Leeds.
The event is aiming to help fill the 600 roles that are currently available in the Leeds digital sector.
Employers including Sky Betting & Gaming, Google, Provident Financial, Proctor & Gamble, William Hill, Callcredit, Sky and Lhasa Limited will be showcasing their businesses
From an idea organiser Amy De-Balsi, founder of Leeds-based jobs board Herd, had six months ago, the fair has mushroomed into a huge event at the first direct arena in Leeds.
Ms De-Balsi, a qualified project manager, was formerly part of the economic development team for Yorkshire Forward, before moving to Sky, becoming their head of communications in Leeds.
We caught up with Ms De-Balsi, who said: ” The purpose of the Leeds Digital Job Fair is to raise the profile of technology companies in the city and the wider Leeds City Region.
“People found it hard to stay up north and build a career in Leeds, but now people don’t have to go down south and come back when they are more established.
“We didn’t have that many digital headquarters here, we specialised in back office functions that have suddenly become driving force of business, so the growth in the digital sector here has not been that obvious.”
Ms De-Balsi also sits on Tech City’s cluster alliance for Leeds, aiming to learn from the lessons London businesses can teach us, and help raise the profile of the sector outside the capital.
“Having talked to companies in Leeds,” she said, the challenges of digital recruitment are the big thing that is holding everyone back.
“If I wanted to encourage a business to think about relocating to Leeds, I would tell them that wages are lower, rent is cheaper but the quality of life is better, and the talent is here. We have a strategy to solve global skills gap.”
A lot of companies have already relocated here, including Byng, a “Silicon roundabout” from Shoreditch which has set up on the Calls, employing 15 people.
Sky Betting & Gaming maintained its headquarters here after splintering from the Sky group. Chief executive Richard Flint said: “I’m really looking forward to the day and the opportunity to meet with potential Sky Betting & Gaming employees.
“We’ve hired almost 400 new people in the last year but continue to expand and have many more vacancies to fill.
“The Leeds Digital Job Fair will enable us to talk about what’s in the pipeline including our software
The Leeds Digital Job Fair will take place on Wednesday 10 February at the First Direct Arena from 12pm-7pm.
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