Bradford Business Unlocked 2025
Unlocking your Future: Exploring Bradford’s Business Opportunities – was the theme of the first ever Bradford Business Unlocked event in February 2025. The aim of the newly created programme was to inspire young people about the diverse business sector careers paths available across the Bradford District and provide learners with practical insights into the job pathways. Is a young person aware that there are accounting and marketing roles in departments within large, public organisations in Bradford itself, as well as in accounting firms and marketing agencies, for example?
Over one thousand young people from schools and colleges in the Bradford District engaged in workshops, presentations, site visits and a careers panel, delivered by employers.
Rose Woollard, Assistant Principal at Dixons Sixth Form Academy, brought Post 16 learners to two events at GXO and Solenis. “Our students loved learning about the range of apprenticeship opportunities available, from Level 2 right up to Level 7. They really appreciated the insight into the breadth of specialisms, from Finance to HR and Engineering. We will definitely be back!” It was important for young people to see that at both employers, the job roles go beyond the expected warehousing, logistics and engineering career pathways – you can be an HR Advisor at GXO too!
The opening event of Bradford Business Unlocked was hosted by Shipley College. The Business Careers Panel gave young people the opportunity to listen to a panel of employees representing a range of finance and business management roles from Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, Morrisons, NatWest, Robertson Construction and West Yorkshire Police. This was followed by questions from the learners in the audience: “Are there any pros and cons to your job?” and “Would you recommend going to university for your role?”. To embed the learning further, students chose their preferred business job role and participated in an employer encounter to explore the role further.
Summing up the Business Careers Panel, Year 10 Appleton Academy learners described the event as “Informative”, “Educational” and “Insightful”. When asked about the learning experience, students realised that there are “a lot more options” out there than they were originally aware of.
Hannah Shah, HR Generalist at GXO, delivered an employer encounter at the Bradford Careers Panel and the wider Bradford Business Unlocked programme: “GXO is proud to have been involved in Bradford Business Unlocked. We encourage all students to utilise the skills and experience shared and to move forward in a way that will change the game and make an impact!”
Bradford Business Unlocked will be back again from 2 – 13 February 2026.