WITH Britain’s secret service on board, the 17th Camden New Journal annual careers fair was bound to be a roaring success.
MI5 was just one of more than 35 employers or educational establishments with stands at the Royal National Hotel in Bloomsbury on Friday with the aim of helping people to turn their lives around.
And more than 3,000 visitors, almost a third of whom were in the 16-24 age group, flocked to the fair. Some were looking for a job, others for a change of career and others to improve their skills.
It wasn’t just MI5 – London Transport, the Army and the Savoy hotel group were also among the diverse range of employers.
The fair was opened by Hampstead and Highgate MP Glenda Jackson and Illtyd Harrington, the New Journal’s literary editor and former chairman of the Greater London Council.
“I am encouraged to see so many people and employers here today,” the MP said.
Mr Harrington introduced Ms Jackson as a woman with “a brave, independent and courageous voice, a voice that has to be listened to”.
And he joked: “After we’ve finished here, I think I’ll go to the MI5 stall and demand the file they’ve kept on me since 1963.”
Ms Jackson praised the intervention by her colleague Frank Dobson, MP for Holborn and St Pancras, over recruitment for the King’s Cross redevelopment. “Frank placed it on the agenda that there has to be local people involved in all the work on the development,” she said.
Joining Ms Jackson and Mr Harrington were Camden Mayor Councillor Nasim Ali, Deputy Lord Mayor of Westminster Councillor Alan Bradley and Pip Hesketh, of Transport for London.
Cllr Ali, the youngest mayor in Camden’s history and the first Bangladeshi to hold the office, said: “Camden Council is trying to support this kind of event. We are looking for local employment for people – such as the massive development at King’s Cross. “I want to see youth and diversity promoted among employers and I congratulate the New Journal on its lead in putting on this event.”
Cllr Bradley explained how his council’s work in making the West End safe from crime helped attract jobs. “We provide the conditions which make employment in London possible. I congratulate the CNJ on its initiative in putting this event together,” he said.
Pip Hesketh, head of equality and diversity at Transport for London, said: “I’m responsible for making sure we provide equal opportunities for all of London. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your level of skills or knowledge is, I encourage you to help us to drive the future.”
Camden New Journal editor Eric Gordon pointed out that most local weeklies are owned by large newspaper groups. “The Camden New Journal is unique in the UK because it is an independent and is run on a not-just-for-profit basis,” he said. “Essentially, we believe the real owners of a newspaper should be its readers.”
The jobs fairs were started in the early 1990s as part of the newspaper’s belief that it should be part of the community.
He added: “We launched the New Journal 21 years ago, and this year we are celebrating our birthday with the launch of another newspaper this week to cover Islington – the Islington Tribune.”
One of the fair exhibitors, Russell Burnaby, of Brent Council’s children’s information service, said: “There are lots of jobs in childcare because it’s high on the government’s agenda. This fair is a great opportunity to encourage people to work in childcare. We came last year and it was one of the most successful job fairs we’ve been to.”

MP Glenda Jackson and Mayor Nasim Ali at the Camden Council stand with, from left, principal personnel consultant Tony Spaul, resident caretaker Barry Osaghae and King’s Cross patch manager Dilip Shah