Over the last few years, I have put on a number of local Jobsfairs here in Wyre Forest. These aim to link those looking for work, with employers looking for workers. Twice a year, around 50 employers have offered around 500 jobs to local people and the attendance has been terrific. But as unemployment has come down in the district, there have been fewer and fewer people coming to the Jobsfairs, whilst employers are increasingly unable to fill vacancies. To me, this identified a subtler problem – that there could be a disconnect between schools and employers.

Local schools get in touch with local employers, but it is very much on an ad hoc basis. Relationships are determined by who might be the current head of the school, or careers master. Employers might not necessarily see the benefit of engaging with schools.

Locally, we have an economic initiative called ReWyre. This is a collection of business leaders and other stakeholders in our local economy. It is an important gathering of people who work together specifically on helping the local economy grow. As MP, I am a member of ReWyre, and it was at a meeting earlier this year that I suggested we try to organise a careers fair for local schools, in which a number of employers open up their businesses to groups of school children who can use the opportunity to see what careers there are available locally. ReWyre, I am delighted to say, embraced the idea and the first Wyre Forest Careers Fair was hatched.

For a week local businesses opened their doors to groups of children just about to start choosing their A Levels. The idea being to help them form better ideas about what to study to ensure they get the jobs they want after leaving school. With ReWyre businesses enthusiastically opening their doors, and Kidderminster College organising all the logistics, the week long event was a great success, and certainly vastly better than anything I could have organised from my office alone.

We will do this again next year, having learnt from any mistakes. But key to this being a success is how the schools and businesses nurture their new found relationships between the annual fairs. It is vital that schools and businesses work together so that school leavers know what the world is like outside; so they can make choices that match the needs of employers.