Bringing together education and employment experts to shape a talent base fit for the Solent's future

As an extraordinary academic year draws to a close, the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership held its annual Careers Hub Summer Summit virtually. The event attracted over 70 partners, working across education, training and industry who, together, help young people achieve their career potential.

Clare Hutchinson, Director of Network, The Careers & Enterprise Company, said: "It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak to Careers Leaders, Enterprise Advisers and employers at the Solent Hub conference and to hear how so many people have been working tirelessly in challenging circumstances this year to keep careers on the agenda and ensure that every young person is prepared for their best next step.  It was a fantastic curation of sessions and speakers that collectively help to make that happen and the content couldn’t have been better aligned to CEC strategy over the coming year."

The Solent Careers Hub works with local schools and colleges, universities, training providers, employers and career professionals.

Rachael Randall, Solent LEP Board Director and Chair of the Skills Advisory Panel said "In this fast changing world, it's never been more important for young people to access expert careers advice and meaningful work experience opportunities; and for employers to ensure the skills their industries need for the future are coming through.

"At the end of this academic year, which has been particularly challenging for both students and educators, our annual Solent Careers Hub Summer Summit proved to be an invaluable opportunity to bring together those helping to create a world class talent base here in the Solent region where they could share best practice, network, and hear from industry experts on the future direction of careers education."

Over the past academic year, the team have established a number of new initiatives to engage with more students and employers, and ensure careers education remained a priority during the pandemic.  These have benefitted thousands of young people in the Solent and include live employer broadcasts, virtual work experience, a new network for those working with young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), a Maritime careers conference and outreach programme, and a series of online shows, sessions and videos.