Pictured above: Sophie Bulgin

Two sister businesses are benefiting from an enterprising move after tapping into the talent on their doorstep. 

When British Hardwood Tree Nursery and gardensupplies.co.uk's directors Andrew and Zoe Henderson noticed that their enterprises were both experiencing a surge in sales, they made a slick move and invested in graduate help. 

With the Snitterby-based tree nursery gearing-up for the start of its peak period in the Autumn, Mr Henderson has recruited University of Lincoln business marketing graduate Sophie Bulgin,  on a three-month internship.

He found  the 22-year-old through the university's Opportunities at Lincoln scheme, which has already  placed 25 students on internships.

Miss Bulgin is among the graduate stars of today's workforce, who are increasingly attracting the attention of smaller firms.  And, although  she is working with the tree nursery, her expertise is also helping gardensupplies.co.uk to achieve increasing success.

Mr Henderson said: "Both our businesses are getting busier. The tree nursery is building up a head of steam in readiness for its peak period and I knew we needed extra help. 

"It's fantastic to be at the helm of rural enterprises, but it can be a real challenge to find highly-motivated staff who are able to hit the ground running and prepared to travel to our premises.

"We suddenly realised that the University of Lincoln produces a ready pool of talented people who are able to inject fresh thinking and bright ideas into what we do. University staff did the hard work, providing us with a shortlist of people to interview. Sophie made a great first impression and she is settling in fast."

Miss Bulgin, from Laughterton, near Gainsborough, is looking at the nursery's purchasing and stock management processes and ways to streamline and improve British Hardwood Trees' systems.  

"The Uni provides an email service to graduates. That's how I learned about this job.

During my degree I did a year's work experience in Siemens' buying department. At one point I could have returned, but then they started making redundancies.  

"I love gardening and the outdoors and really enjoy doing purchasing work. This is a great opportunity for me. Working within a small firm gives me a good overview of all aspects of running a business. I am hoping my internship will lead to a permanent job."

Miss Bulgin has already proved she is enterprising, having won the University's Perfect Pitch competition earlier this year. Entrants had to come up with a business idea and  she devised a format for selling secondhand University books - winning a £3,000 grant and £2,000 worth of help, should she progress the idea. 

Mark Stow is University of Lincoln Opportunities Service manager and part of a team providing students and graduates with professional careers advice and information.

He also acts as a consultant talking directly to firms about graduate recruitment. 

"In a nutshell,  we can now offer businesses with less than 50 employees or those based in key industrial sectors £1,500 to help subsidise a graduate for three to six months," said Mr Stow. 

"Our scheme offers employers the chance to see what a graduate can offer them, with minimal risk - it's almost a 'try before you buy' initiative." 

Mr Stow said 80 per cent of graduates in the market tend to be taken on by SMEs.

"I believe that the recession means that more smaller organisations are seeing graduates as "fair game" for jobs, whereas historically they may have been left for the larger blue chip organisations and the graduate recruiters," he said.