HUNDREDS of jobseekers turned out to the annual Adver job fair yesterday in the hope of landing a role with some of the town’s top employers.

Held at the Jury’s Inn and sponsored by Select Appointments, the fair had doubled in size compared with last year with 14 exhibitions by firms such as Honda , Audley and Travelport, as well as recruitment agencies and colleges.

Now in its 19th year, the fair saw more than 400 rush through the doors in the first hour and more than 1,000 had passed through the halls by the time it closed at 6pm last night.

Mike Baker, senior recruiter at Select, said he was surprised by the number of people who went along.

He said: “We came here because it was a more proactive way of finding candidates and many of those who came were exactly what our clients are after. “There were certainly more people than we thought.”

Chris Roberts, recruitment manager for Honda, said: “It’s been really positive and definitely worth our while.

“We had a lot of interest in our temporary production vacancies, although there were not as many suitable for the specialist engineering roles.”

Offering something a little different was the Utility Warehouse, giving people the chance to earn a second income and be their own boss.

Paul Davey, a distributor for the firm, said: “It is something for those who are self-motivated and offers something as an extra to employment or even as a full-time opportunity.

“We had plenty of interest and even got some meetings set up so it was well worth coming.”

Among the jobseekers were Steve Shailes, 21, of Randall Crescent, said: “I’ve been looking for any type of job, something hands-on like in a warehouse or something like that, but I’d go for anything, like retail.

“My last job wasn’t for me because it was door to door. I would have liked to have seen more companies here.

“The few jobs in the job centre are managerial or supervising which I don’t have training for.”

Wen Malukai, 25, who travelled up from Brighton, said he was looking for a design engineering job.

“It’s good, because they’re making it a lot easier to find the job you’re looking for – they were very helpful,” he said.

Di Powell, recruitment advertising manager for the Adver, hailed the show a success for jobseekers and firms alike.

She said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the level of response.

“There were hundreds of jobs on offer at the fair and the feedback from the businesses was that they were pleased with the numbers and calibre of those who attended.

“The number of exhibitors had doubled on last year and we had people queueing to get in so I would say it has been successful.”