THE Daily Echo-backed recruitment exhibition at the Wessex Hotel in Bournemouth's West Cliff, sponsored by Bournemouth-based LV=, was hailed as another success.

The regular twice-yearly event saw hundreds of job seekers visiting various high- profile local businesses such as Castle Cover, JP Morgan, the MOD, Halifax, Nationwide, Agincare, Next Step, Barclays, SOS, and the event sponsor LV=.

The first in a series of jobs fairs for 2008 organised by the Daily Echo in conjunction with leading local employers, the Daily Echo recruitment manager Hayley Davies commented: "It has been a staggering start to the year. We have seen huge numbers of candidates registering with local employers and we beat last February's attendance figures of 1,500 visitors over the two days!"

Hayley added: "The recruitment exhibition is an excellent opportunity to meet people face to face to gauge what is available."

LV= had 50 vacancies and was offering roles with salaries starting from £16,000 rising up to £70,000 for fund managers.

Bournemouth-born Ben David-Priors represented the MOD at the event. In the Army for just five months and 16 years old, he said: "I'm already earning £1,000 a month. The Army offers a huge range of opportunities. He added: "The Army has 150 types of job to choose from. For instance, if a school leaver wanted to become a carpenter they would go to the Royal Engineers and then they would go on the carpentry side. The Royal Engineers also offer plumbing and bricklaying. Once in the Army there is a minimum of four years to be served. There's the option of doing 12 years or the full 22."

Head of HR at Poole-based Castle Cover John Parker said: "I'm looking to fill 40 sales vacancies in Poole. Sales roles start from £13,500 with an uncapped bonus scheme. There's room for progression, too."

Director of Bournemouth-based SOS Recruitment, Chris Cook said: "We have around 500 vacancies. That's ranging across more than 100 clients and some of those vacancies are multiples. We have vacancies in customer service, admin and sales. It is so busy at the moment on both sides - the candidates are frantically applying and local businesses are expanding. In previous years the market hasn't woken up so quickly. This year, it's been non-stop. I've got some amazing roles offering £80,000 for investment fund managers and £120,000 a year for financial sales."

Since recruiting Tony Blair, JP Morgan has 200 vacancies to fill locally. JP Morgan's Emma Osborne commented: "We don't have set starting salaries - anything from £15,000 upwards. We take school leavers and we run apprenticeships, too. We have various roles to fill - admin, finance, accounting, data inputting, technology roles. The firm has three sites in Bournemouth - at Christchurch Rd, Waverley House, and at Chaseside near the Littledown Centre."

The next Daily Echo recruitment fair will be in October.