Over 300 cadets attended and record number of businesses exhibited
The 4th annual Cadet Careers Fair, held at the start of National Apprenticeship Week 2026 (9-15 February 2026), took place at York College on Saturday 7 February 2026. Fifty-five employers from across the region exhibited enabling cadets to explore employability opportunities and future careers from a range of industries. This is the only Careers Event in the UK that is exclusively for cadets.
The fair, first held in 2023, has since increased in size with double the number of participants. The Cadet Careers Fair was created by Simon Banks-Cooper, Honorary Colonel of Humberside and South Yorkshire Army Cadet Force. Special guests who attended the event included HM Lord-Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Johanna Ropner, and The Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Martin Rowley BEM.
Cadets develop transferable skills and are employability-ready
Employers from across the region attended the Cadet Careers Fair and met with cadets to share information about their work in their industries and future opportunities and careers. Through activity such as drill, field craft, STEM, first aid, sport and more, cadets develop essential life skills such as communications, leadership, teamwork, resilience and confidence. The cadet experience is transformational in terms of employability, life skills and life outcomes (University of Northampton, Institute for Social Innovation report commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, ‘What is the social impact and return on investment resulting from expenditure on the Cadet Forces in the UK?’).
Colonel Banks-Cooper says:
“Employers and entrepreneurs recognise that it’s not just academic qualifications alone that are the key to employability. Wider experiences, generic skills and emotional intelligence contribute to making a young person work-ready.
“The cadet experience offers the development of these invaluable attributes, boosting cadets’ self-efficacy, esteem and confidence, the sought-after qualities employers seek when recruiting as well strengthening national resilience. Businesses and organisations attending today’s fair understand our cadets are prepared for the range of opportunities on offer and receptive to all the possible professional pathways presented. We are very pleased about the success at this year’s Cadet Careers Fair and expect that interest and engagement in it will only increase year on year.”
Kieron Honeyman, Director at KH Plant Training and Cadet Careers Fair exhibitor says:
“We’ve attended several cadet-based events that have given us the opportunity to meet many cadets, all of whom are highly focused, driven, and brimming with potential to make a positive impact across a range of industries, including ours. KH Plant Training never misses a chance to bring our machinery to these events, whether it’s our midi excavators, dumpers, rollers or tele-handlers. We enable cadets to gain first-hand experience and see how the attributes they develop through the Cadet Force – such as leadership, communication, and problem-solving – directly translate into valuable skills for gainful employment.
“Following events like the Cadet Careers Fair, KH Plant Training launched ‘Cadets into Construction Day’ at our Doncaster HQ this past summer. Cadets received a comprehensive site safety briefing, a full day of hands-on activities, and expert instruction on operating equipment including heavy earth-moving machinery such as tracked and wheeled dump trucks, loading shovels, and more. Our team was deeply impressed by the cadets’ enthusiasm and their exceptional ability to follow instructions, adhere to safety protocols, collaborate effectively as a team and demonstrate initiative when working independently – all essential skills for career success. Buoyed by this success, we’ve already scheduled our second ‘Cadets into Construction Day’ for June 2026. We look forward to hosting this event and continuing to create opportunities that open the doors of our industry to young people in the Cadet Force. We fully recognise and value their outstanding potential and capabilities.”
2026 Cadet Careers Fair reel: