Table of Contents

1. Summary

 Building on 2015  New for 2016  Event Programme  Key Findings

 1.1 Organisation  1.2 Marketing  1.3 Venue  1.4 Hospitality  1.5 Format

2. Representative and Exhibitor Feedback

 2.1 Did you achieve your objective?  2.2 Ratings of event quality  2.3 Attendance at the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017  2.4 Exhibitor Comments

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

 4.1 Recommendations for Tees Valley Skills Event 2017  Appendix One – Representative evaluation form  Appendix Two – Exhibitor evaluation form

Summary

Following the success of the 2015 Tees Valley Skills event, the fifth annual event took place on Tuesday 20th September 2016 at Teesside University’s Olympia building.

This report is based on the results from a survey that was emailed out to exhibitors after the event and those who accompanied visitors (school/ college/ learning provider staff) at the 2016 Tees Valley Skills event. For the purpose of this report those who accompanied the visitors (young people) will be referred to as “representatives”.

The response received from exhibitors and representatives has been extremely positive and it is clear that exhibitors were successful in promoting the wide range of learning and employment prospects available to young people in Tees Valley.

On the exhibitor side of the event, a total of 61 organisations were represented across 70 exhibition stands and on the visitor side of the event 1,855 young people, representatives and general visitors attended which included school and college students and individuals not engaged in employment, education or training.

26% of exhibitors and 48% of representatives responded to the survey. (Appendix’ 1 & 2 include copies of these questionnaires).

The survey revealed that 94% of exhibitors and 100% of representatives achieved their objective by attending the event, a fundamental indicator of success.

Key Outcomes

 70 exhibitor stands (of which 61 were individual organisations) exhibited at the Tees Valley Skills Event 2016  1695 young people from schools/colleges and learning provider establishments attended the event. (An increase of 294 young people from the 2015 event)  130 schools /college and learning provider staff members attended the event (Representatives) (An increase of 33 school /college and learning provider staff members from the 2015 event)  100% of exhibitors and 100% of representatives reported they would attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017.

Building on 2015

Following changes to a number of features at the 2015 event, we replicated these for the 2016 event. These features included:

 Timing of the event day; 9.00am until 15.30pm for visitors.

 Format of the exhibition; Exhibition space areas were organised into “Zones” e.g Employer Zone/ CEIAG Hub Zone, Learning Provider Zone and University Zone.

 Refreshments; A designated catering area was available on the first floor of the building in the “teachers’ lounge” to avoid hot drinks in the main room.

 Pre event set up; Exhibitors set up their exhibition stands the evening before the event.

 Pre event lesson plan; Schools/ colleges/ learning providers were issued the pre event lesson plan before the summer break in order for students to be prepped prior to the event.

 Reimbursement of Transport costs; Transport reimbursement was still available at this year’s event however we did keep it at the 2015 reduced rate of 50%.

 Venue; The event took place again at Teesside University in the Olympia Building and was free of charge due to Teesside University been the Venue Sponsor for the event.

 Partnership; Following the success of the partnership working to deliver last year’s event with Nybep, Teesside University and Tees Valley Learning Provider Network, we again maintained this working group to deliver the 2016 event.

 Welcome session; All young people attending the event were taken to a lecture theatre, welcomed to the event by Teesside University Student Ambassadors and watched the video of the 2015 Tees Valley Skills Event. The video was played to make students aware of what to expect from the event.

 Due to timing and the logistics of moving visitors across the campus, we did cancel the welcome sessions after the first cohort of visitors arrived. This did work well as we were able to brief visitors outside the Olympia Building. However for the next event, the format of the welcome session will be looked at as the welcome sessions provide time to ensure visitors can exit the event without congestion occurring at the entrance and exit points.

New for 2016

Changes were made to the exhibitor packages following evaluation feedback from last year’s event. Some of the exhibitors at the previous event wanted more space and tables than their package allowed them. In order to resolve this issue for this year’s event, the changes made to the packages included detailing the specific table sizes that would be included in the packages.

Exhibition packages were offered at a choice of two price options:

Tees Valley Standard Exhibition package Cost: £250 plus VAT to include:

o 4ft table with room for a pop up stand, chairs and electrics package. o Stand can accommodate hands on “have a go “interactive activity if applicable. o Company Logo on event website. o Company Logo in the event guide. o Free WIFI for devices. o Tea and Coffee throughout the day.

Tees Valley Premium Exhibition package Cost: £350 plus VAT to include:

o 6ft table with room for a pop up stand, chairs and electrics package. o Stand can accommodate hands on “have a go “interactive activity. o Company name, logo and website address on event website and on marketing collateral and event social media. o 50 word bio and Company Logo on the event guide. o Free WIFI for devices. o Tea and Coffee throughout the day

Over the previous year’s events we have tried to capture visitor’s feedback through various mediums including tablet device competitions and questionnaires. For this year’s event we kept it simple and asked visitors to write their views on the event on tables covered in banqueting role.

The visitors really engaged with this activity and it proved an easy yet effective way of gaining feedback.

Feedback included:

“The event is fun and educational” (Anonymous) “Exquisite activities that everyone can be interested in” (Joshua) “So many interesting careers” (Ashleigh) “Very beneficial” (Anonymous) “A great opportunity to think about where to go after leaving school” (Jack) “It has helped me decide what I want to do in the future” (Abigail) "Lots of opportunities to choose from” (Anonymous)

The Tees Valley Skills event always takes place in the first term of the new academic year. Traditionally the event has taken place in November, however due to a change of venue for 2015, the event took place in December to meet the needs of the Universities academic timetable. For the 2016 event we had to hold the event in September due to the Universities availability.

As a result of this we included onto the representative evaluation form, the option for representatives to state their preference for the month they would prefer the event to be held.  77% stated September 2017  23% stated December 2017

We will therefore look to hold the 2017 event September 2017.

Event Programme

The event programme for the day was as followed:

Time Activity 8.00am Exhibitor registration, networking and refreshments 8.45am Housekeeping and H & S briefing to all exhibitors 09.00am Exhibition open 10.00am Dyke House College, Outwood Academy Acklam*, Macmillan Academy 11.00am Red House School, St. Patrick's Catholic College, Education Village (Haughton Academy) 12.00pm Trinity Catholic College*, Hartlepool PRU, Carmel College*, Nacro, Egglescliffe School, High Tunstall College of Science 13.00pm Sacred Heart Secondary Academy, Manor Community Academy, Acklam Grange School, Thornaby Academy, Huntcliff, Darlington School of Mathematics and Science, Hurworth School 14.00pm Nunthorpe Academy, Red House School, All Saints Academy 15.30pm Exhibition closes

*These schools/ colleges were originally booked on to attend the event but cancelled prior to the event taking place. The cancellation of these schools/ colleges resulted in 440 students not attending.

Key Findings

All representatives and exhibitors were invited to complete a feedback evaluation form.

 48% of representatives and 26% of exhibitors responded to the survey

Post event feedback shows a high satisfaction level across the board for both representatives and exhibitors.

The statistics below illustrate the event’s success:

 70 exhibitor stands (of which 61 were individual organisations) exhibited at the Tees Valley Skills Event 2016  1695 young people from schools/colleges and learning provider establishments attended the event. (An increase of 294 young people from the 2015 event)  130 schools/college and learning provider staff members attended the event (Representatives) (An increase of 33 schools/college and learning provider staff members from the 2015 event)  100% of representatives and 94% of exhibitors achieved their main objective in attending the event  100% of representatives reported the quality of exhibition stands as excellent or good  100% of exhibitors rated the overall organisation as excellent or good  92% of representatives rated pre-event communication as excellent or good  100% of exhibitors would exhibit at the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017  100% of representatives would attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017

1.1 Organisation

From TVCA’s point of view, the organisation was assisted greatly by the lead time. This enabled TVCA, Nybep, Teesside University and TVLPN to secure the majority of exhibitor bookings well in advance aiding the planning process. Regular progress meetings with all partners also helped to add structure to the managing of the event, ensuring nothing was missed and that all parties were integral in event decisions.

1.2 Marketing

Promotion of the event was done predominantly through email and social media. This was complimented by the event website www.teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/events/ as well as promotion at local Tees Valley business events to attract Tees Valley employers to attend and exhibit at the event.

All branding and marketing was designed by TVCA using the Tees Valley Skills branding. All partners (TVCA, Nybep, Teesside University and TVLPN) promoted the event through their own contacts and networks.

1.3 Venue

The Teesside University campus and the Olympia Hall provided an exciting and energetic atmosphere throughout the event day. The venue was well equipped to provide suffice exhibition space and the venues car park space was ideal to host visitors arrivals and departures.

The layout of the exhibition meant that there was a good circular flow of traffic ensuring all delegates had access to all of the exhibition stands.

The flow of coach arrivals and departures seemed to work well. A Traffic management system was heavily managed by the venues staff and Student Ambassadors. Exhibitor parking was also managed by the venues staff and although this ran smoothly, due to a

dedicated car park for exhibitors only, feedback indicated that there was a lot of waiting and queuing to access the car park.

 92% of representatives said the venue was either excellent or good.  94% of exhibitors said the venue was either excellent or good with the remaining 6% ranking it as satisfactory.

1.4 Hospitality

Previously we have provided packed lunches for exhibitors, however following the feedback from last year’s event we decided to only provide hot drinks and water. All exhibitors were informed with the pre event information that lunch would not be provided but that there would be facilities on the campus for catering. This worked well and would be the approach that we adopt for the next event. It has been suggested from some evaluation forms to include a specific lunch time period for exhibitors especially for exhibitors who attend on a solo basis.

Tea and coffee was available throughout the day and bottled water was provided for exhibitors. To avoid hot drinks been brought into the main room, the refreshment station was located in the teachers’ lounge of the Olympia Hall. The lounge also provided a meeting/networking place away from the stands.

1.5 Format

Exhibitor registration opened at 8.00am which enabled exhibitors to put the finishing touches to their stands and network with other exhibitors before the event opened at 9.00am.

Visitor registration worked well due to visitors receiving pre event information on what to expect on arrival and to bring two copies of registers and the exact location of arrival and departure points.

Although we managed for the majority of the event to avoid long queues due to TVCA staff collecting completed registrations from the representatives of the schools/ college/ learning provider staff leads, the two afternoon sessions did get congested. One school actually brought 40 more students than booked on and another school arrived early. This is an issue that will be looked at for the next event.

Feedback from representatives suggests that the exhibition stands were deemed a success.

 100% of responding representatives reported that the quality of exhibitors was either excellent or good.

2. Representative Feedback

2.1 Did you achieve your objective in attending the event?

100% of representatives reported that they had achieved their objective in attending the Tees Valley Skills Event 2016. Objectives included;

“To support our targeted students (risk of NEET and PP students) with their post 16 options and ensuring they are aware….of pathways available” (Egglescliffe School)

“To give my year 10 students…..the opportunity to speak to as many colleges/ businesses and training providers as possible” (Sacred Heart)

“To open up the minds of Y9 students to the wide range of opportunities across the Tees Valley” (Darlington School of Maths and Science)

Did you achieve your objective in attending the

event? 120%

100% 80%

60% 40%

20% 0% Yes No

94% of exhibitors reported that they had achieved their objective in attending the Tees Valley Skills Event 2016. Objectives included;

“To engage with younger people and promote careers within our industry” (PX limited)

“To market the firm locally and offer careers advice to young people interested in Law” (Macks Solicitors)

“To engage with local young learners, sharing careers available with EDF Energy” (EDF Energy)

“To get young people interested in STEM subjects and engineering and talk to them about career opportunities in rail” (Hitachi Rail)

Did you achieve your objective in attending the

event?

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Yes No

2.2 How do you rate the quality of the event?

Representatives Excelle Good Satisfact Poor nt ory Pre- event communication 84% 8% 8% Event day Logistics 54% 38% 8% Exhibition Stands 62% 38% Venue 69% 23% 8%

How did you rate the quality of the event? 90%

80%

70% 60% Excellent 50% Good

Satisfactory 40% 30% Poor 20% 10%

0% Pre- event Event day Exhibition Venue communication Logistics Stands

Exhibitors Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor Pre- event communication 81% 19% Event day Logistics 56% 38% 6% Overall organisation of the event 62% 38% Exhibition Stands 44% 37% 19% Venue 69% 25% 6%

How did you rate the quality of the event?

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% Excellent 30% 20% Good 10% 0% Satisfactory Poor

2.3 Would you attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017?

100% of representatives would attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017 and 77% of representatives specified to hold next year’s event in September.

Would you attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017?

120%

100%

80% 60%

40%

20%

0%

Yes No

Please specify your preference for the timming of the 2017

event

90%

80%

70% September 60% 50% December 40% 30%

20% 10% 0% September December

100% of exhibitors would attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017 and 87% of exhibitors stated that their exhibition stand was value for money. 13% of exhibitors did not find their stand value for money due to “a bigger table” been needed and the location of the stand.

Would you attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017?

120% 100% 80%

60% 40%

20%

0% Yes No

Did you find your exhibition stand value for money?

100% 90% 80% 70% Yes 60% 50% No 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Yes No

3.0 Exhibitor comments

“Busy vibrant, great opportunity to connect with a lot of students at once- highly efficient outreach event” (Sarah Bartram, Medical Physics, The James Cook University Hospital)

“Brilliant day and it was really great to see the enthusiasm of the children for work” (Lisa Fox, KP Snacks)

“Very good event and a fantastic opportunity to engage with our target audience” (Corporal Matt Purvis, Army Careers Centre Middlesbrough)

“Very good useful / busy event” (Samantha Collins, Cogent Skills)

“Very well organised, friendly staff always willing to help, a great event for students to get them inspired” (Emma Anderson, Coventry University Scarborough Campus)

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

It is evident from the positive feedback that on the whole, the 2016 Tees Valley Skills Event was very successful. The interactive activities were utilised by the majority of visitors and the exhibitors constantly engaged with attendees. The number of visitors to the event increased from the previous year as did the number of employers exhibiting. There was an increase at this year’s event of more exhibitors providing practical interactive activities.

The success of this year’s event is evident from the following feedback from Egglescliffe School:

“Thank you for organising the event- our students were very impressed and came away with loads more ideas about their future…after doing my own evaluation with my students the event has made them more likely to apply for a job within the Tees Valley!”

Feedback from the evaluation forms highlights that there are a few changes that can be made to make the event even better.

A short video has been created to summarise the event, this will be used to advertise next year’s event to both exhibitors and young people www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8XlFHi-15k

4.1 Recommendations for 2017

A key recommendation suggested from exhibitors for the next event is to have a specific lunch time period especially for exhibitors attending the event individually. As we have restricted hot drinks been allowed in the main exhibition area, a lunch break would allow a welcomed refreshment break for exhibitors. Also, as lunch is not provided for exhibitors this would allow time for exhibitors to utilise the campus facilities.

In terms of the exhibitor packages offered at this year’s event, we only had 2 exhibitors (13%) who did not believe they were value for money. As this figure is low it is suggested to keep the packages the same for the 2017 event. Stipulating the size of the table exhibitors received within their package managed expectation.

We had 70 exhibitor stands from 61 organisations at this year’s event. Following feedback from exhibitors some have cited that they were too “cramped” or “restricted” in regards to been able to engage with the visitors. For the next event the floor plan will be looked at and perhaps a maximum number on exhibitor stands. This is an area that will be looked at in detail for the next event.

We included free WIFI for all exhibitors at the event. Prior to the event taking place we included on the exhibitor booking forms WIFI requirements to ensure that we had the right amount of access for all exhibitors. This worked well and will be replicated for the next event.

The marketing of the event this year was really proactive across social media and press releases. As a result of this there was an increase in exhibitors contacting TVCA to exhibit rather than TVCA purely contacting exhibitors, a similar approach should be adopted for next year’s event.

Appendix 1 Representative evaluation form

Thank you for attending the 2016 Tees Valley Skills Event. We would be grateful if you could complete this short questionnaire. Your feedback is essential to help us develop future events.

Name:______

Organisation: ______

1. What was your main objective in attending the event?

______

______

2. Did you achieve this objective? Yes  No  If no, please explain why not:

______

______

3. How did you rate the quality of the following:

Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor

Pre-event communication     Event day logistics     Exhibition stands     Venue      

4. Additional comments to support your ratings:

______

______

______

5. Would you attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017? Yes  No 

If no, please explain why not:

______

6. How could improvements be made for future events?

______

______

7. Your lasting impression

______

8. Due to limited venue space within the Tees Valley to suit the needs of the Skills Event, Teesside University campus will be used for the 2017 event. The university’s timetable does mean we are limited in terms of when the event can take place. Please specify you preference for the timing of next year’s event:

September 2017 December 2017

Many thanks for your feedback. Please return to [email protected]

Appendix 2 Exhibitor evaluation form

Thank you for attending the 2016 Tees Valley Skills Event. We would be grateful if you could complete this short questionnaire. Your feedback is essential to help us develop future events.

Name:______

Organisation: ______

1. What was your main objective in attending the event?

______

______

2. Did you achieve this objective? Yes  No  If no, please explain why not:

______

______

3. How did you rate the quality of the following:

Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor

Pre-event communication     Event day logistics     Overall organisation of the event     Exhibition stands     Venue      

4. Additional comments to support your ratings:

______

______

______

5. Would you attend the Tees Valley Skills Event 2017? Yes  No 

If no, please explain why not:

______

6. Did you find your exhibition stand value for money? Yes  No 

If no, please explain why not:

______

7. How could improvements be made for future events?

______

______

8. Your lasting impression

______

Many thanks for your feedback. Please return to [email protected]