Employers and job-hunters proclaimed yesterday's Daily Echo Jobsfair one of the most successful ever.

It brought together dozens of organisations looking for staff, including some of the area's biggest names in business and the public sector.

There was also a programme of free workshops with Best Recruitment on subjects such as CV writing and interview skills.

The jobsfair was sponsored by Health-on-Line, the Bournemouth-based company which is one of the fastest-growing private medical insurers in the UK.

Gemma Perry, recruitment coordinator for sponsor Health-on-Line, said: "We recruited someone from the last jobsfair and had a lot of CVs and a lot of interest, which is great. 

"It's nice to get out and meet people who are looking for employment and get the Health-on-Line brand out there.

"It's good to meet people and tell them about our company and our reputation, which is really important, so we're not just someone at the end of a website or a phone."

Chantel Conley, recruitment consultant with Nationwide, said the event had been busy as soon as the doors opened. "We're seeing such a huge diversity of backgrounds. They're coming from all walks of life."

The society, one of Bournemouth's big employers, currently has around 50 vacancies locally and 400 nationally.

Angela Boyer, classified manager with the Daily Echo, said more than 100 people had attended in the first 50 minutes.

"It's good that so many local companies, both new and returning, are supporting the event," she said.

"From the people coming through the doors so far, it looks like it's going to be another success, with people of all ages and abilities looking for new jobs or a change of career."

Claire Stockley, resourcing consultant with LV=, said “It’s been a really steady flow, which gives us time to talk to people properly. People have come for a different reasons and have done a lot of different roles.”

Sophie Chatralia, senior HR administrator with the Westover Group of car dealerships, said: “We’ve been speaking to quite a lot of people for a lot of different roles.

“We’ve got around 40 vacancies across the entire spectrum of jo b roles, in Bournemouth, Salisbury, Christchurch, all over the place.”

Costa was seeking staff for positions across the area.

Philip Howlett, store manager at Costa in Christchurch, said: “We’ve seen seven or eight CVs that are really suitable so we’ll try and interview from that."

Merryn Angel, training development manager for Costa, “We really struggle to recruit so these opportunities are really important for us as a company.”

The employers attending include: New Forest Care, Burleys Home, Intercoun, Lifeways, Westover Group, Nurse Plus, Yellow Buses, Database Factory, Shorefield Holidays, LV=, Voyage Care, Altogether Care, Care South, Harford Care, CCL, Nationwide, UK Placements - ML Electronics, BCHA, Somerset Care, Best Training, Health-on-Line, Autism Wessex, SOS Recruitment, Team Jobs, Eden Vauxhall, Hays Recruitment, Costa, Morebus and Home Instead.