Member Article

Funding for graduate placements at East Midlands SMEs

Enscite, the Derby-based organisation created to support SMEs in the transport engineering supply chain, has launched a new funding initiative for local employers looking to get graduate placements into their business

The Enscite graduate funding scheme will provide up to £4,000 of financial support for each individual placement between its partner universities - Aston, Cranfield and Derby - and SMEs in the automotive, aerospace or rail sectors.

There is no time limit for the amount of time the graduates spend in the company nor is the scheme restricted to engineering graduates. As such, it is an ideal opportunity for companies to get support to help drive forward business projects across a range of areas from finance through marketing to engineering design.

Enscite’s MD Colin McKinnon (pictured) explained that identifying the SMEs that qualify is based on a simple set of criteria, adding: “Funding is limited and will be awarded on a first come first served basis, so I would urge SMEs keen to recruit graduates to contact us to discuss their eligibility.”

Colin adds: “Much has been documented about the potential skills shortage and this is a great opportunity for local SMEs to tap into some excellent up and coming young talent from leading universities. We hope that by providing a small amount of funding to support the cost of the graduate, we can widen the scheme to even the smallest businesses that may not have considered this sort of thing before.”

To qualify, graduates must have a degree or NVQ4 equivalent qualification awarded in the last three academic years. Placement of the graduate is effective from the date they begin work at an SME.

Enscite is a collaboration between Derby City Council, The University of Derby, Aston University, and Cranfield University. It is committed to improving the performance of supply chain companies in the transport engineering sector.

Enscite is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Regional Growth Fund. For more information about Enscite visit: www.enscite.co.uk, Tel: 01332 593551, or Email: info@enscite.co.uk, follow @EnsciteUK on Twitter.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Enscite .