QUEUES formed early at the First Direct Arena as thousands of school and college students, many accompanied by parents and families, turned out last week for the 2025 Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair. They were there to find out more about apprenticeship vacancies and career opportunities being offered by employers in the city.

Organised by Leeds City Council, the event is the biggest of its kind in the North of England and saw a huge increase on last year’s record attendance, with more than 13,000 tickets booked for the event,.

Over a hundred employers were exhibiting and there was strong representation from the city's manufacturing and engineering sector.

Employers AW Hainsworth,  Greyhound Box,  Leeds Welding Company, MA Ford Europe, MPM and Sound Leisure were joined on the Leeds Manufacturing Festival exhibition stand. by festival sponsors E3 Recruitment and Enginuity.

ACS Stainless, Airedale International, Barkston Plastics, Pland Stainless Schneider Electric and Sulzer were also represented at the fair.

It was the first time at the recruitment fair for Chris Wagstaff, managing director of precision tool manufacturer MA Ford Europe, and his team. Earlier in the week he had joined a group of manufactuirng employers who visited UTC Leeds to talk to students about careers in the sector. 

“Recruitment is changing and we are constantly looking for the right calibre of personnel to add to our exceptionally high-tech team. But it is becoming more and more difficult so the apprenticeship fair was great exposure for the company,” said Chris.

“To be able to tap into a talent pool of people who want a career in manufacturing, was something we had been missing for years. Working with the Leeds Manufacturing Festival has already proved to be the right investment for us.”

Fiona McGarry, sector engagement manager at Enginuity, the UK engineering and manufacturing skills charity, said: We were delighted to be part of the Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair. It was encouraging to see the interest in manufacturing and engineering apprenticeships. The sector has a serious skills gap and we need to attract diverse talent to address it.

“One of our priorities this year is the shortage of welders in the industry. I was stood next to the brilliant apprentices from Leeds Welding Company and they were getting lots of enquiries which is really encouraging. The best advocates for a career in our sector are current apprentices.”

Attention now turns to the official launch event for this year’s Leeds Manufacturing Festival, taking place at Leeds City College Printworks Campus, taking place on Thursday 13/3/25.

The launch will see a full programme of events unveiled, running through to the beginning July, designed to promote careers in manufacturing and forge stronger relationships between employers, schools, colleges and training providers in Leeds. 

The 2025 Leeds Manufacturing Festival is sponsored by E3 Recruitment, Enginuity, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds City Council, Made Smarter Yorkshire & Humber, AW Hainsworth, Facultatieve Technologies, Greyhound Box, Kirkstall Precision Engineering, Leeds Welding Company, MA Ford Europe, MPM, Saftronics, Sound Leisure and Technical Control Solutions.