Hart Job Fair: 30+ employers at The Harlington, 17 September

More than 30 employers will be at The Harlington in Fleet on Thursday 17 September for the Hart Job Fair. It runs from 10am to 2pm and entry is free. The council’s announcement gives no booking or ticket arrangements, so it reads as a walk-in event.

The organisations confirmed so far are:

• Hampshire & Surrey Police
• Royal Air Force
• Royal Mail
• Reed Employment
• CV-Library
• Home Instead
• The Elvetham Hotel

The council says the full line-up will pass 30 local and national organisations, covering paid jobs and volunteering. It is running the fair with the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus, and it is part of the same Here for Hart programme that is handing out the district’s £440,000 in community grants this autumn.

Last year’s fair drew 325 residents, according to the council’s announcement.

Councillor Peter Wildsmith, Hart’s portfolio holder for housing and community services, said the event “provides residents with direct access to employers, advice and opportunities that could be life-changing, while also helping local organisations find the people they need to grow and thrive”.

Who it is aimed at, and the numbers behind it

Hart has the lowest claimant rate in Hampshire. That is the context this fair sits in, and it cuts both ways.

In July 2026, 1,115 people in Hart were claiming unemployment-related benefits, which is 1.8% of residents aged 16 to 64. That is the lowest rate of all eleven Hampshire districts, and the tenth lowest of 357 local authorities across the UK.

The number is rising, though, and it is rising fastest among the young. Hart’s total is up from 1,030 in July 2025, an increase of 85. Among 18 to 24 year olds the count went from 155 to 185, a rise of 30. Proportionally that is roughly 19% against about 8% for the district as a whole.

These counts are rounded to the nearest five, so read the direction rather than the exact figure. A change of 30 in a group of that size is small in absolute terms and large as a share.

One caveat on that measure. The claimant count is not an unemployment rate. It counts people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit who are required to look for work, and that includes some people who are working but on low earnings.

What it means for you

If you are looking for work, more than 30 recruiters in one room for four hours, at no cost, is worth half a day. Take copies of a CV: CV-Library and Reed Employment are both attending, and so are employers recruiting directly.

If you are a school or college leaver, the under-25 figures above are the reason to go. Hart’s youth claimant count has risen by about a fifth in a year in a district where overall claims are the lowest in the county. Fewer competitors locally, but a tighter entry-level market.

If you are an employer in Fleet, Hook or Odiham, the council has not published a closing date for exhibitor places, and the line-up was still being added to when the announcement went out on 3 August. Hart District Council’s contact page is the route to ask.

Getting there. The Harlington is at 236 Fleet Road, Fleet, GU51 4BY, in the middle of the town centre by Gurkha Square, a few minutes’ walk from the bus stops on Fleet Road. It is run by Fleet Town Council. If you are driving in, our Fleet roadworks and travel page has the current closures.

Sources

• Hart District Council, “Hart Job Fair returns in 2026”, 3 August 2026, for the date, time, venue, free entry, the confirmed exhibitors, the “more than 30 organisations” figure, the 325 attendance at last year’s fair, the DWP and Jobcentre Plus partnership, and the quote from Councillor Peter Wildsmith.
• ONS claimant count via nomis, for the July 2026 and July 2025 claimant counts and rates for Hart, Winchester, Basingstoke and Deane and Rushmoor, the 18 to 24 breakdown, and the ranking of 357 UK local authorities.
• The Harlington, contact page, for the venue address and the Fleet Town Council operator.

Claimant count figures are published by the Office for National Statistics under the Open Government Licence.