Skye businesses benefit from graduate work placement programme
Dualchas Architects and Uig Pottery are the first businesses on Skye to take advantage of the Highland Council’s Graduate Placement programme.
The work placement scheme, which is delivered by Business Gateway Highland, aims to help local companies take on a graduate to deliver a vital project it doesn’t have the resource or time to complete itself
Dualchas Architects was started by brothers Neil and Alasdair Stephen in 1996 and has offices on the Isle of Skye and in Glasgow.
The company which has designed buildings locally, nationally and internationally – including the house at Boreraig on Skye, which has recently won an RIAS Award, a Saltire Award and been featured in UK and European media – applied for assistance through the scheme to help it take on a graduate who would help develop detailing of highly insulated buildings.
With support from Business Gateway and a grant from the Highland Council the company has taken on Jonathan Mennie, a 24-year-old, from Aberdeenshire, who graduated from Robert Gordon University with a degree in architecture.
Neil Stephen, Director, Dualchas Architects said: “This scheme is hugely beneficial at a time when graduates are finding it difficult to get work in the construction industry. It has allowed us to take on a graduate to help us develop our business here in the Highlands. If he hadn’t been given that chance to work with us he may have moved to London, where many of his contemporaries have gone looking for work, so this scheme has also helped us retain Scottish talent.”
Based in The Pier, Uig, and in Comrie, Perthshire, Uig Pottery was established in 1992 and is run by artists Alan and Margaret Freestone, who throw pottery inspired by their surroundings, run pottery workshops for the general public and sell their wares in their shop.
The company applied for assistance through the scheme to help it take on a graduate to develop, manage and run the business’s website, establish a presence on social networks, help research and develop a new range of tiles and kitchen accessories plus answer customer queries through the Scotclay arm of the business, which supplies pottery materials and advice.
With support from Business Gateway and a grant from the Highland Council the company has taken on Jennifer Lockwood, a 24-year-old, from Carlisle, who graduated from Glasgow Art School with a degree in ceramic and product design.
Alan Freestone, Owner, Uig Pottery, said: “The graduate placement scheme has given us the opportunity to employ a graduate who has the theoretical knowledge but no practical experience of how a business or workshops work. The time spent on training and supporting the graduate is such that we would not otherwise have been able to afford to take on someone with no experience. The scheme’s financial help has enabled us to put Jennifer through a one year apprenticeship.”
Alongside a local Business Gateway adviser, two recruitment advisers provide eligible businesses with specialist advice to help them through the application process – from identifying a business project to highlighting the best way to advertise and recruit a graduate.
Although companies are responsible for paying the graduate’s salary for the period of the project – which should last a minimum of six months and no longer than 12 – The Highland Council will fund 50 per cent of the salary up to a maximum salary of £16,300 per annum.
Donald MacKenzie, Business Gateway Service Manager said: “The Graduate Placement Scheme is another example of how The Highland Council and Business Gateway respond to local needs and we are pleased that local companies are already signing up and benefitting from it. The aim of the scheme is to help local businesses gain an employee who will target new markets, develop new projects, increase exports or enhance another aspect of the business that they feel is important to its development while at the same time providing the graduate with an opportunity to showcase their skills, gain exceptional experience and further develop their knowledge.”
To find out if your business is eligible for The Highland Council’s Graduate Placement Programme contact Business Gateway’s Recruitment Advisers: Emma Gunn on 07867 394347, emma.gunn@highland-opportunity.com or Marianne Ross on 07867 394346, marianne.ross@highland-opportunity.com
Business Gateway provides practical help, advice and support for new and growing businesses. In 2011 Business Gateway Highland helped 365 start-up businesses and provided support to over 860 existing businesses.