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Popular graduate scheme comes to Yorkshire

A popular European funded internship scheme which has seen scores of North East companies receive a £4,000 subsidy to take on a talented graduate is being extended into Yorkshire.

º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s Graduates for Business scheme has had tremendous success helping SMEs across the North East develop their business with the help of a graduate intern. Following a successful trial the scheme is now being extended into North Yorkshire and the Humber.

Funding is available for a total of 33 internships, typically lasting for six months. As well as providing a financial subsidy of 50% of salary costs, º£½ÇÖ±²¥ will also help companies with the recruitment process, and can provide expert mentoring to help drive projects forward.

Over the last three years, the North East programme has worked with nearly 200 SMEs and created more than 190 new jobs.

Laura Woods, Director of Academic Enterprise at º£½ÇÖ±²¥, said: 'Graduates for Business offers companies a low-cost, low-risk opportunity to bring new skills and ideas into the business. It has proved to be very popular in the North East, and we’ve had a number of requests from Yorkshire firms keen to take advantage of it.

'We’re delighted that eligible businesses in North Yorkshire and the Humber can now benefit.

'We hope that as many as possible will get in touch to find out how using talented graduate interns can help grow their business.'

The programme is part financed by the Yorkshire and the Humber European Regional Development Fund Competitiveness Programme 2007-13 and managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government as a means to help local areas stimulate economic development, and it is open to Business to Business SMEs in the following sectors:

• Creative and Digital New Media • Advanced Manufacturing • Financial and business services • Health Sciences, Biosciences.

For more information about Graduates for Business, call º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s business team on 01642-384068, email business@tees.ac.uk, or visit .

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