BUSINESS leaders are being offered free advice on finding and hanging on to talented staff.

The event next month, which is hosted by Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, will start with a discussion panel.

Speakers include Paul Morrow, managing director of Bicester-based bakery business British Bakels which employs about 200 people.

The firm recently bought a second, larger 80,000 sq ft base which it plans to move some of its operations into next summer.

Also on the panel is Pat Cole, site director at Abbott which makes medical devices including diabetes testing kits.

It employs about 800 people at its Witney plant and has its head office in Maidenhead plus 74,000 employees around the world.

Other panel members are Simon Newton, commercial director of Long Hanborough-based electrical engineering firm Darke & Taylor and Oxon LEP chief executive Nigel Tipple.

Discussions will focus on recruitment solutions, support available to employers and examples of best practice.

There will also be a Q&A session afterwards.

The event, which is free to attend, comes after a number of surveys show local employers are planning to expand and take on more staff.

This includes a study by law firm Irwin Mitchell published in October which ranked Oxford the fourth-fastest growing economy in the UK

The event is on January 22 from 8.30am to 11.30am at British Bakels in Bicester.

To book a place or for more details on the event and its' speakers visit goo.gl/ZAEwU3