A paid internship scheme, run by
The Business Clinic at Northumbria University with funding from Santander
Universities UK, is providing crucial support to small businesses across the
North East of England.
The Santander Universities SME
Internships Programme provides Northumbria students and graduates with the
opportunity to secure paid summer internships in small to medium sized
business.
The scheme, which is designed to boost
enterprise, employability and innovation, has placed a record 85 graduates with
a range of businesses on two to 10 week placements this summer.
It gives students and graduates the
opportunity to put theory into practice, working in a real business and
providing valuable support to organisations in a range of areas from strategic
operations and brand development to digital marketing, social media strategy,
logistics and IT.
Nigel Coates, Business Clinic Director
at Northumbria University, said: “The purpose of Northumbria University’s internship
programme with Santander Universities UK is to help people and businesses
prosper.
“Initiatives like this provide our students
and graduates with new opportunities to secure valuable work experience and
benefits employers at the same time through fresh perspectives, new ideas and
insights which helps to drive growth in local SMEs.”
Northumbria University secured funding
from Santander Universities UK to support a range of initiatives across the
University, enabling the Business Clinic to fund paid student placements and
internships with SME clients across the region. Since the partnership began
more than 160 students have completed internships with SMEs and last year 78%
of placements resulted in an offer of employment.
Matt Hutnell, Director of Santander Universities UK, commented: “Santander
is committed to supporting higher education as well as local communities across
the UK. We’re delighted that our SME internships programme continues to be
successful in both supporting local businesses and providing students the
opportunity to get to know the business environment and gain some fantastic
experience which will have an impact beyond their university years.”
Kyran Parker, director at Red Kite
Innovations, a York-based business training and development consultancy, has
taken on intern Duncan Chapman, 22, from Wetherby, to work in the business on a
10-week placement this summer.
He said: “This is my first year working
with a Northumbria University intern. They are extremely high quality and I would
recommend the University to others for proactive, enthusiastic and highly
skilled students.
“I’ve been blown away by the
energy, enthusiasm and ideas Duncan is bringing to the business. He’s great
with our clients and has already identified some exciting new areas where we can
target our expertise. It’s also very rewarding for us to be able to provide a meaningful
summer internship that offers a genuine learning experience.”
Describing the motivation behind
his internship with Red Kite Innovations, Duncan said: “The Santander
Internship with the Business Clinic jumped out to me as a great opportunity to
continue to apply my knowledge and experience of consultancy. Working for Red
Kite Innovations has been the perfect experience of transitioning from student
life into the world of work.
“I’m gaining valuable experience
and making great contacts along the way, and of course, the income is helping
me save up to fund some traveling! I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is
thinking about completing a similar internship in the future!”
This year, due to wider engagement
work being undertaken by staff at the Business Clinic, the University has been
able to place students with a large number of nurseries across the North East
and has developed new partnerships in the sector which could form the basis for
long term collaboration.
The nursery sector is currently undergoing
rapid and significant transformation as a result of changes to government
funding. Through the internship scheme, nursery operators are being encouraged to
tap into the skills and expertise of students who can provide assistance in key
areas, including marketing, finance and business planning.
