More than 240 businesses and organisations are expected to attend with the aim of recruiting some of the UK’s brightest and best graduates. Demand has been so great that this year the event will run over two days for the first time ever.

Managed by Loughborough’s Careers Network, the annual Fair regularly draws some of the biggest names in business from the finance and banking, retail and engineering sectors among others. 

The event provides Loughborough students with the chance to meet recruiters from some of the world’s leading companies. Among the attendees this year are Accenture, Balfour Beatty, Deutsche Bank, Dyson and the adidas Group.

Around 6,000 students are expected to visit this year’s Fair in a bid to find out more about the employment options available to them and to benefit from valuable careers advice from the University’s advisers.

Caroline Crouch, the University’s Employer Engagement Manager, said students are becoming much more aware of the need to maximise their employability.

“Students now recognise that they need to focus on developing their skills and gaining professional work experience. Events such as this show our students the wide variety of placement, internship and graduate roles that are available and enable them to make valuable contacts with recruiters,” she said.

“We always get excellent feedback about the Fair, both from the students and the employers who attend. They all find it really valuable. So it’s great to be able to extend it over two days this year and offer even more opportunities for businesses and our students to connect and engage.”

The Fair will also be the venue for the launch of the Lboro Connect mentoring and networking platform for Loughborough students and alumni. This new online community will enable many more students to develop career networks and connect with alumni mentors to support their personal development.

Loughborough is one of the top 15 universities targeted by large, graduate employers, according to the 2016 Graduate Market report published by High Fliers. Many of the University’s courses are designed and sponsored by industry, which means that Loughborough students develop the knowledge, skills and qualities required by employers.

Loughborough is also in the top 10 in the UK for graduate prospects, according to the 2017 Guardian and Complete University Guides, and was given a five star rating for employability in the international QS Stars scheme.