Pictured above: Members of the team launched GA's new
graduate internship service
Launching their new graduate internship service at a busy
networking event in Birmingham, Graduate Advantage (GA) is gearing
up to create over 1400 internships here in the West Midlands, with
the long term goal of boosting business performance and the local
economy.
Giving more choice to businesses, GA is not only offering the
paid internships they are well known for, but they will also be
offering voluntary internships from July 2011, developed out of
lessons learned from the highly popular West Midlands Graduate
Internships pilot project, which finished last year.
This latest venture is being funded through a mixture of private
sector investment, University support and a £1.6 million
investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The new service will be led by GA, which has been arranging
placements in local SMEs for over 8 years. Managed by Aston
University, GA also has a track record of working in partnership
with regional Universities to promote the benefits of work
experience to graduates and businesses alike.
Professor Helen Higson OBE, Senior Pro Vice Chancellor at Aston
University and Chair of the GA Steering Group has been a key
driving force behind the new service and a passionate ambassador
for getting graduates into small businesses.
She said: "To address the under-performance of the West Midlands
economy we must retain graduates and match them up with businesses
that need their talent. Internships are a fantastic and proven way
for companies to inject fresh talent into the workplace and allow
graduates to gain the skills and experience they need to get
on.
Through the support of ERDF and our partners across the region,
we can support our graduates and address this challenge."
Mark Foley, Director for European Programmes at Advantage West
Midlands, added: "ERDF funding is vital to the development of the
West Midlands. Supporting small businesses and creating jobs are
key priorities and schemes such as this are excellent examples of
how the funding can benefit the region as a whole and also the
people and businesses living and working here."