Work placement scheme adds value

SMALL firms are being encouraged to sign up for Shell STEP – a summer work placement that matches SMEs with bright young students.

The scheme, which is co-ordinated by oil giant Shell, has an impressive track record of delivering substantial financial rewards with around half of students adding more than £5,000 worth of value to their host business in 2008. Nearly 20% added more than £30,000.

This year’s pool of talent includes graduates and undergraduates from a wide range of backgrounds including marketing, product design, engineering, business studies and IT.

Placements are individually tailored to the businesses’ needs and students’ skill and career ambitions to bring tangible benefits to both parties.

James Smith, chairman of Shell UK, said: “Shell Step has been boosting businesses’ bottom lines and students’ employment prospect for the last 23 years.
“I hope that SMEs which may find themselves stretched in the current economic climate will step forward and sign up.”

The programme, part of Shell’s wider commitment to encouraging entrepreneurship in the UK, has delivered more than 22,000 projects in SMEs since it began in 1986.

To find out how to get involved in the scheme businesses can visit www.shellstep.org.uk.