Pictured above: (l-r) Norman Day and Monika Kowalczyk, from Coventry University careers and employability department, with Andrew Lester and Paul Corbett of Carr-Michael

A company which has seen the advantages of a university scheme first-hand is hoping it will not be among the last to benefit.

Warwickshire-based business improvement specialists Carr-Michael was one of around 250 businesses to take advantage of Coventry University's intern placement scheme this year.

Carr-Michael, based in Dunchurch, took on three interns for 200-hour placements during the last academic year.

Paul Corbett, partner at Carr Michael, said: "These internships are fantastic for companies like ours as they allow us to recruit a bright young person with potential for a relatively small amount.

"We are able to help them develop the skills they need, before they enter the world of employment on a full time basis, and their addition to the firm also has the potential to improve the business.

 "It is a great example of the local business and academic communities working together to increase the employability of young people in the area."

Carr-Michael specialises in helping businesses perform to their best by supporting owners and directors in analysing the performance of their business and creating a strategy to achieve sustainable growth in the long term.

One of the students to land a placement with Carr-Michael was 21-year-old Celia Lester.

The internship has led to the Coventry University graduate, from Dunchurch, landing a role as a marketing associate with London-based firm CMA.

She said: "The Coventry University internship scheme was really beneficial for me and provided some fantastic experiences.

"During my time there I took part in a wide range of activities to help me in my future career ranging from research into customers and identifying marketing opportunities, to developing marketing materials and producing strategies for potential clients.

"Employers want people with real world experience when they leave university and the internship scheme bridges that gap."

The project has provided around 270 graduates and a further 50 undergraduates with valuable real world experience as they prepare to enter one of the toughest job markets for many years.

The scheme, which is financed through the Higher Education Funding Council, allows students to receive funding while they are placed with organisations, including small and medium enterprises which benefit from an extra member of staff at a relatively minimal or no cost.

The Government's comprehensive spending review could signal the end of funding for the project, which could hinder the mutually beneficial relationship between placement students and SMEs.

The experience can prove invaluable for students and often provides them with a cutting edge as they compete with others to persuade bosses to recruit them. The scheme also benefits employers who find the newest members of the team are ready to slot more easily into the organisation.

However, even if there is no further funding in the year ahead, Coventry University's careers and employability service will use initiatives like this as the basis for developing and strengthening its links with local and regional employers.

The internship scheme has proved a big hit with employers as well as students, the majority of which have given the scheme glowing reviews.

Final figures are still under review, but it is thought as many as 15 to 20 per cent of students who undertake internships manage to gain employment with the company they are placed with - and countless more have landed jobs with other firms thanks to the experience gained.

Norman Day, head of careers and employability at Coventry University, said: 

"The support of companies such as Carr-Michael is invaluable and we were delighted by the standard of the internship offered at Carr-Michael.

"These internships are an important and effective way of helping students gain valuable experience in the field they wish to work in as well as providing around 200 to 250 small and medium-sized companies with an extra staff member they may not otherwise have been able to afford.

"There will always be placements, but these internships are particularly important to universities which have many students from lower social-economic backgrounds, including many first generation higher education students.

"These students simply cannot afford to work for nothing at the end of their course, as they have debts and bills to repay, so they are forced to work in other industries rather than towards gaining skills and knowledge to help them in the sector they wish to be employed."