De Montfort University (DMU) in Leicester has been chosen to manage a £500K scheme to boost the job prospects of graduates across the East Midlands.

'Backing Young Britain' is a £13.6m Government initiative to help young people into work. It will provide around 7,000 graduate internships in small businesses in England by the end of the year.

The funding aims to support the increased numbers of unemployed graduates in the economic downturn, and support employers in the Government's priority areas for economic growth.

DMU will administer, govern and manage the delivery of 370 internships across the region by the end of September 2010 in partnership with East Midlands Universities Association (emua), East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and higher education institutions in Leicester, Lincoln, Loughborough, Nottingham, Derby, Northampton, and The Open University*.

Graduates will be placed in priority employer sectors identified by the Government - low carbon products and services, digital industry, life sciences and pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, professional and financial services, engineering construction and industrial opportunities presented by the ageing population.

Small businesses can benefit from access to talented and ambitious individuals who are keen to work, build their business through new skills and flexible resources and bring in graduates with specific skills to complete time-limited projects with low employment costs. 

Stuart Marriott, Careers Employer Development Manager in Student Services at DMU, said: "Times are tough for graduates. This additional funding for internships will enable more graduates across the region to kick-start their careers and provide a useful and productive experience for employers."

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is administering the scheme, and has been working closely with Higher Education Regional Associations, Regional Development Agencies and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) to implement it. Universities will be working closely with these organisations, as well as other employer representatives, to promote graduate internships to business.

HEFCE Chief Executive, Alan Langlands, said: "Universities have responded enthusiastically with a wide range of practical and flexible proposals to help graduates towards employment through the internships scheme. This will make a significant difference for businesses, particularly those who are taking on a graduate for the first time."

In England more than 50 universities will support graduates and small businesses, as they provide a total of 6,998 internships in the first instance, rising to 8,500 in total.

For each intern universities will provide employers with up to £1,600 towards salary costs. Positions must be for 'graduate level' work, pay at least the minimum wage and last for three to six months.

DMU's existing Graduate Internship Scheme looks to support local businesses by placing recent graduates into subsidised work placements, and has already placed more than 40 graduates who have not managed to find relevant jobs since graduating in 2009.

Any companies interested in taking on a graduate through the scheme can contact Stuart Marriott on 0116 207 8597, smarriott@dmu.ac.uk or Lisa Naik on 0116 257 7599, lnaik@dmu.ac.uk. Information is also available from the website via www.dmu.ac.uk/careers