Small businesses in Chesterfield and Derbyshire can receive up to £7,000 in funding and support to recruit remotely-based student and graduate talent into their workforce.
The rise in remote working due to the COVID-19 pandemic means the University is now able to work with more businesses than ever before, including those who previously may not have had the office space to accommodate a graduate.
The opportunities are provided by the GRADS for D2N2 project which is part-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and is part of the ESF High-Level Skills programme.
ESF supports activities to extend employment opportunities and develop a skilled workforce. The GRADS for D2N2 project is delivered by the University of Derby as part of the High Level Skills consortium which also includes Nottingham Trent University, Derby College, Nottingham College, and Nottingham City Council.
Chesterfield small business (SME) owner Rebecca Erskine, owner of Yellow Bird Marketing and Communications recounted the benefits of working alongside the University after taking on a graduate, Maciej Rus and current University of Derby student, Freya Padmore.
The team put together a series of remotely-filmed videos showcasing the virtues of remote working and the importance of internships as a way for students and graduates to gain “a competitive edge” and “apply the skills learnt at the University to the workplace.”
Rebecca said: “I recently took on two interns from the University of Derby. I think it is really important that the University, regardless of its name, supports businesses across the county of Derbyshire and that is the benefit of this particular programme.
“I think that when people are hard-working, they deserve real opportunity in life. Very often there are things that sit on the back-burner as far as your business is concerned.
“As a small business owner, obviously what brings in the money is the billable work and that has to be your priority, but it can’t be at the expense of business development or promoting your business so the interns coming into the project have really helped me make sure that I am looking at every element of the business. Remote working has given me the perfect opportunity to get the candidates that I really wanted for the project, regardless of where they’re based.”
Freya said: “Having experience that I can talk about in interviews and my applications gives me just that competitive edge compared to some other students who haven’t had any experience yet.
“I’m working in a really small team now so we can really bounce ideas off each other. It’s just given me a much better idea about what I want to do when I graduate.
“I don’t have to commute to work anymore. I can literally just sit at my desk and everything’s there that I need. I can literally log on whenever I want to, finish working when I want to, just based on when I feel like working.”
Support available to SMEs includes organisations needs assessments, talent grants, graduate internships, Employability and Apprenticeship workshops, curriculum co-design and more.
For more information please contact driven@derby.ac.uk
The University of Derby supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.
