The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015 Friday 6th February

Celebrating excellence in undergraduate employability across all stakeholders

PREMIER SPONSOR:

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY:

IN ASSOCIATION WITH:

HOSTED AT:

15 Awards: 7 Employer Awards 4 University Awards 4 Student Awards

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Line-up Welcome to the National Undergraduate Employability (NUE) Awards A word from the Premier Sponsor, PwC ‘Leading the Pack’: Exclusive session looking at innovation, trends in technology and candidate behaviour, brought to you by Steven Z. Ehrlich, Global VP, Client Development at AIA Worldwide ‘An Insight into the Undergraduate Market’: presented by Stephen Isherwood, AGR’s Chief Executive Award Ceremony: Special Guest Speaker Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Black’s chocolate Award Ceremony Overview Best University Placement Service Best University Careers / Employability Service Most Improved Commitment to Employability Outstanding Contribution to Work Experience Best Placement Student Best Intern Best Student Contribution to a Small to Medium-sized Employer Best University Society Best On Campus Marketing Campaign Best Short-term Insight Scheme Best Diversity Initiative in Work Experience Best New Provider of Work Experience Top Small to Medium-sized Undergraduate Employer Top Medium-sized Undergraduate Scheme: unveiling of the Top 30 Medium-sized Undergraduate Schemes 2015 - 2016 Top Undergraduate Employer: unveiling of the Top 100 Undergraduate Employers Table 2015 - 2016 Final word

Line-up

13.30 – 14.20 Registration - coffees, teas and pastries on arrival 14.20 – 15.15 ‘Leading the Pack’ Exclusive session looking at innovation, trends in technology and candidate behaviour, brought to you by Steven Z. Ehrlich, Global VP, Client Development at AIA Worldwide 15.15 – 15.35 Break 15.35 – 15.45 ‘An Insight into the Undergraduate Market’ Presented by Stephen Isherwood, AGR’s Chief Executive 15.45 – 16.30 Special Guest Speaker, Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Black’s chocolate – the world’s leading organic chocolate brand worth £100 million 16.30 – 17.15 Champagne reception and networking session 17.15 – 18.15 The National Undergraduate Employability Awards Ceremony 18.15 – 19.30 Dinner, drinks, photographs and networking 19.30 onwards Official end – feel free to join us for the after party at Babble City, EC2N 1HU

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

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Welcome to the National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

With the NUE Awards now entering their sixth year, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very enjoyable and insightful afternoon with us.

kind and continued support.

Finally, we wish all of our finalists the very best of luck!

Whether it’s placements, internships, vacation schemes or insights, or a whole mixture, we feel privileged to share in this event with you, to further highlight the exemplary work that is carried out by organisations, universities and students across the UK. I would like to take this opportunity to thank etc.venues for hosting the ceremony and our sponsors for their

Oliver Sidwell & the RMP team

A word from the Premier Sponsor

Your career is just that; yours. You choose it. You live it. You make it happen. To get the best from it, you need the best opportunities. That’s why opportunities are at the heart of a career with us. Opportunities to grow as an individual, to build lasting relationships and make an impact in a place where people, quality and value mean everything. And we’re proud, based on the opportunity we offer, that students have voted us the number one Graduate Employer in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers survey for the last eleven years.

We’re pleased to be supporting the National Undergraduate Employability Awards for the sixth year running, which recognises the value that work experience can give to both a student and an employer. We’re interested in your potential to develop and as a major employer of graduates, with a vast number of work experience opportunities available, we recognise the important role played by RateMyPlacement.co.uk in supporting students to find the right programme. No matter what year you’re in at university, we have many ways you can learn more about us, but most importantly, more about you.

Applicants who stand out are those who’ve done research and are well prepared.

A work experience programme is an excellent opportunity for students to acquire invaluable skills and realise their potential in an increasingly competitive student marketplace.

Visit pwc.com/uk/work-experience.

To find us on Facebook visit fb.me/PwCCareersUK and follow us on Twitter @PwC_UK_Careers.

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‘Leading the Pack’: brought to you by Steven Z. Ehrlich, Global VP, Client Development at AIA Worldwide

AIA Worldwide - the CIPD ‘Agency of the Year’ in 2013 and 2014 - is a global leader in the recruitment communications space, leveraging software, advertising and creativity to develop and deploy clients’ employer brands across digital, social, and mobile outlets.

AIA’s Steven Z. Ehrlich (@99GR81) is a fizzing, over-caffeinated whirlwind.

That’s not a bad thing. Just spend five minutes in his company and you’ll catch a dose of his infectious enthusiasm for all things digital.

Splitting his time between London and New York, Steve works closely with agency teams around the world to explore, develop, and implement strategic initiatives leveraging social media, new technologies and innovative employer brand delivery channels for clients including Boeing, Deloitte, Disney, Mondelez, P&G, and Walmart to name a few.

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Today, it’s not just a question of how well you manage your digital channels, but how well you manage what these increasingly open channels reveal about your employer brand experience. With sites like RMP, Glassdoor, Indeed, Twitter, Facebook, and more, social media has changed the concept of content forever. Not just what the content is, but who creates it and, more importantly, how and where it is posted and by whom.

Steve’s presentation will explore the need for innovation, the changing recruitment landscape, and the impact of technology and psychology on candidate needs and behaviours.

If you want to connect with Steve before, during, or after the event, you can find him @99GR81 on both Twitter and Instagram and, of course, on LinkedIn.

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

‘An Insight into the Undergraduate Market’: presented by Stephen Isherwood, AGR’s Chief Executive

Stephen Isherwood was appointed Chief Executive of AGR in June 2013 following six years as Head of Graduate Recruitment UK & Ireland at EY, one of the largest recruiters of graduates in the UK. Stephen started his career at Coopers & Lybrand recruiting experienced management consultants, before moving into graduate recruitment when Coopers merged with Price Waterhouse to form PwC. After PwC he lead the graduate recruitment and development programme at Safeway before working in the public sector, where he developed and managed a number of careers-related programmes.

At EY, Stephen instigated the project that led to a switch from competencybased recruitment to a ‘strengths’based methodology.

In addition to his current role Stephen is a member of the Burgess Report Implementation Committee and a Trustee of The Centre for Recording Achievement.

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Award Ceremony: Special Guest Speaker, Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Black’s chocolate

and ethical achievement, and the fortunes of the Maya Indians in Belize who grow the cocoa have been transformed.

Jo tells how 20,000 young people carrying flaming torches lobbied supermarkets to stock Maya Gold generating valuable news coverage.

But they also had plenty of white knuckle moments. What happens when cocoa beans are stuck in a volatile tropical country, the port’s blockaded and your major retailer is threatening de-listing unless the consignment is delivered on time?

Jo Fairley is co-founder of Green & Black’s. She and her entrepreneur husband set out to market the world’s first organic chocolate, deciding on ‘green’ to represent their environmental ethos and ‘black’ to reflect particularly high-quality cocoa beans.

Jo was among the first to highlight the social responsibility of food producers.

Green & Black’s immediately picked up awards for entrepreneurial 8

Jo’s presentations show the determination needed and the risks involved in building a business and exploiting a niche market. She also demonstrates the power of branding, how business can be both ethical and highly successful and why you should never underestimate the intelligence of the consumer.

“We would like to thank Steven Ehrlich, Stephen Isherwood and Jo Fairley for being with us at this year’s National Undergraduate Employability Awards.”

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

Award Ceremony Overview

The NUE Awards will be announced in the following order: University Awards Best University Placement Service Best University Careers / Employability Service Most Improved Commitment to Employability Outstanding Contribution to Work Experience Student Awards Best Placement Student Best Intern Best Student Contribution to a Small to Medium-sized Employer Best University Society Employer Awards Best On Campus Marketing Campaign Best Short-term Insight Scheme Best Diversity Initiative in Work Experience Best New Provider of Work Experience Top Small to Medium-sized Undergraduate Employer The penultimate Award is the unveiling of the Top 30 Medium-sized Undergraduate Schemes Top Medium-sized Undergraduate Scheme 2015 - 2016 The unveiling of the much coveted Top 100 Undergraduate Employers and the announcement of the Headline Award Top Undergraduate Employer 2015 - 2016

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Best University Placement Service

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “Business placements are an important part of recruitment at M&S. To help us find the right students to join our scheme, we work closely with a number of universities.

“Sponsoring this Award is a huge thank you to all the teams we’ve worked with during the last few years. Without them, our business placement scheme wouldn’t be where it is today.”

This Award celebrates the tireless and invaluable contributions made by university placement services in helping students apply and maximise their work experience opportunities.

The finalists are:

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Coventry University Faculty of Engineering and Computing

University of Huddersfield Business School

Lancaster University Management School

University of the West of England

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

Best University Careers / Employability Service

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “At Microsoft, we aim to help people around the world realise their true potential. This includes creating an environment where students and graduates are able to freely express themselves.

“We sponsor this Award to acknowledge the excellent universities we work with who help us attract the best student talent worldwide.”

This Award celebrates the outstanding and invaluable contributions made by the university careers / employability services in helping students apply and maximise their work experience opportunities.

The finalists are:

University of Greenwich Faculty of Business

Lancaster University Management School

University of the Arts London Student Enterprise & Employability

University of Wolverhampton Careers, Enterprise and The Workplace

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Most Improved Commitment to Employability

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “As a leading global technology organisation, SAP is at the centre of today’s technology revolution, developing innovations that not only help businesses run like never before, but also improve the lives of people everywhere.

“SAP is proud to sponsor this year’s Award and understands the importance of providing access to business experience to help develop its workforce of tomorrow. It’s hugely exciting to see more and more companies developing their schemes and we wish all of the entrants the best of luck.”

This Award celebrates the improved efforts and services provided by a university department, placement or careers service in helping students apply and maximise their work experience opportunities.

The finalists are:

University of Kent Careers and Employability Service

University of Sussex School of Business Management and Economics

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University of Leeds Faculty of Engineering

University of Ulster

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

University of the West of England Employability and Enterprise Service

Outstanding Contribution to Work Experience

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “ASET is proud to be a strategic partner of RMP Enterprise, and once again a sponsor for these Awards. For more than thirty years ASET has been supporting good quality placement learning through our work with universities, providing staff development, conferences and research in the field.

“There are many unsung heroes in our sector, colleagues who work tirelessly to give their students a great experience, and we are delighted to sponsor the Outstanding Contribution to Work Experience Award to acknowledge these efforts.”

This Award celebrates the tireless and invaluable contributions made by a particular individual within a university to help students apply and maximise their work experience opportunities.

The finalists are:

Samuel Clark (Canterbury Christ Church University)

Jo McCreedie (University of Exeter)

James Corbin (University of Kent)

Professor Paddy Gray (University of Ulster)

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Best Placement Student

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “L’Oréal’s placements are exceptionally challenging. Whichever part of our business you join, you’ll be involved in real work that will have an impact on our success.

“Sponsoring this Award is our way of recognising the talent of these exceptional individuals - they’re crucial to the success of our business.”

This Award celebrates the amazing contribution that students on year-long or sandwich placements make to businesses across the UK, with the winner taking home £250!

The finalists are:

Michael Turley ConocoPhillips

Nick Luscombe Microsoft

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Amy Blanthorn-Hazell IBM

Hasan Laher Rolls-Royce

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

Pippa Rodgers Waitrose

Best Intern

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “BDO is proud to reward the nation’s inspirational interns, who continue to exceed expectations across a range of positions and sectors, by sponsoring this Award.

“Companies are only as good as the people who work for them, so it’s wonderful to see the next generation of talent being praised for its contribution to teams, departments and businesses.”

This Award celebrates interns (four-to-twelve weeks) who have exceeded expectations and genuinely made a significant impact to their team, department or the business as a whole. The winner takes home £250!

The finalists are:

Viviana Fedi Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Neha Thakrar PwC

Oliver Stubley Silver Spoon

Oliver Reed University of Southampton

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Best Student Contribution to a Small to Medium-sized Employer

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “We love our placements! Every year we develop our scheme to give students the support they need to grow in confidence throughout their placement year.

“In smaller firms everyone has a huge amount of responsibility and we’re proud to sponsor this Award to help increase the awareness of the benefits of working at an SME.”

This Award recognises the student who has exceeded expectations and genuinely made a significant impact to the small business as a whole, with the winner taking home £250!

The finalists are:

Laura Sinclair Caulder Moore

Jaesik Choi Ecube Labs

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Clare Tomkins Champions Life Academy

Mihaela Gruia FleishmanHillard

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

George Maier Renewal Trust

Best University Society

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “Enterprise Rent-A-Car is delighted to sponsor this Award as societies provide an important part of the university experience for thousands of students.

“We understand the importance of communicating effectively with societies as they play a big role in developing our talent pool. Good luck to all the finalists!”

This Award celebrates the university society which has promoted and encouraged its members to undertake some form of work experience. There’s £1,000 up for grabs for the winning society too!

The finalists are:

Birmingham Chemical Engineering Society

Bristol Consulting Society

Liverpool Entrepreneurs Network Society

Oxford Guild Business Society

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Best On Campus Marketing Campaign

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “We’re exceptionally proud to be sponsoring this Award for the fourth consecutive year.

Supporting the Best On Campus Marketing Campaign outlines our support for innovative and engaging promotions, and we’re delighted to see such variety across the finalists this year.

“For those that haven’t met us before, OnCampus Promotions is a highly tailored, targeted and trackable service that allows employers to communicate their recruitment messages to the student population.”

This Award recognises and rewards those employers who have reached out to students in unique and innovative ways when it comes to student marketing on campus. The campaign must have taken place during the 2013/2014 academic year to ensure we see the results and the ROI of the campaign.

The finalists are:

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Accenture (AIA Worldwide)

EY (MSLGroup)

Jaguar Land Rover (Pink Squid)

Thales (AIA Worldwide)

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

Best Short-term Insight Scheme

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “Work Group is a global employer marketing business. We help employers find the people they need by enabling them to recruit talent effectively. We help employers keep the people they need through innovative development programmes. By letting clients engage with talent effectively, we reduce costs and improve their performance. “As believers in encouraging future talent, we understand the importance of gaining work experience and insight into what employers have to offer the next generation of leaders.

Work Group is therefore delighted to be sponsoring this Award.�

This Award recognises the company that places real value on students during a shortterm insight or vacation scheme, lasting anywhere between one day and three weeks.

The finalists are:

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Linklaters

Nabarro

Nomura

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Best Diversity Initiative in Work Experience

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “Lloyd’s is delighted to support the Best Diversity Initiative in Work Experience Award at the National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015.

“Attracting and engaging diverse future talent is crucial to building a workforce that has the skills and creativity to meet global challenges and to develop and grow our business across emerging markets. Good luck to all the finalists!”

This Award promotes inclusion and diversity in work experience for all students within a company.

The finalists are:

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Bank of England

Civil Service

L’Oreal

PwC

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

Best New Provider of Work Experience

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “Brunel University is proud to be the only university in the UK sponsoring this event. A sandwich placement is very much part of the Brunel culture and ethos and we encourage all our students to undertake a placement or internship as part of their studies at Brunel.

“As a long-standing supporter of RMP Enterprise’s mission to help students develop professional skills while at university, we’re delighted to sponsor this Award to demonstrate Brunel’s commitment to enhance student employability.”

This Award promotes the introduction of work experience opportunities or a formalised undergraduate scheme for students within a company in the last three years.

The finalists are:

BAE Systems

BlueBook

Norgren

Virgin Media

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Top Small to Medium-sized Undergraduate Employer

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “ThirtyThree is proud to support the Top Small to Medium-sized Undergraduate Employer Award at the National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015.

“ThirtyThree helps organisations engage with their current and potential employees in creative and innovative ways. It’s a complex challenge for firms, especially small ones, to continually develop their employment offering as the competition for talent grows. We wish all the finalists the best of luck!”

This Award recognises the employer (SME) that impresses the judges with their attitude to work experience and opportunities that they offer students.

The finalists are:

Borro

ProspectSoft

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Golfbreaks.com

SilverDoor

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

Toshiba Medical Visualisation Systems

Top 30 Medium-sized Undergraduate Schemes (Over 250 employees with three to 14 reviews on RateMyPlacement.co.uk)

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “Bernard Hodes is a creative and digital agency that helps employers attract, engage and inspire. We come up with innovative solutions that influence hearts as well as minds. Future talent is a really important part of what we do – so important that we have experts in the business devoted to school-leaver, apprentice, graduate and post-graduate marketing.

“We are proud to support the Medium-sized Undergraduate Scheme Award and champion companies that have provided the opportunity for students across the country to undertake rewarding internships and placements this year.”

This Award is purely based on the reviews submitted on RateMyPlacement.co.uk, by students who have completed placements, internships, vacation schemes and insights with companies employing more than 250 people within the organisation.

Here are the organisations that make up the Top 30 Medium-sized Undergraduate Schemes, in alphabetical order of course!

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

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Top 100 Undergraduate Employers

(Over 250 employees and 15+ reviews on RateMyPlacement.co.uk)

Sponsored by:

A word from our sponsor: “PlaceNet is a network for professionals dedicated to improving the quality and value of placements since 1995. We recognise that professional work placements are invaluable for students, as they develop a range of employability skills and deeper subject knowledge. Destination statistics prove that placements work in helping students be more successful in finding graduate level jobs.”

“PlaceNet is delighted to sponsor the Awards for a third year; we believe the role of dedicated placement professionals is critical in helping students achieve their aims and deserves real recognition.”

This is our headline Award for the Top Undergraduate Employer. What makes this Award truly unique is that it is purely based on the reviews submitted on RateMyPlacement. co.uk by students who have completed placements, internships, vacation schemes and insights.

To qualify for this Award, a company must employ more than 250 people and have 15 or more reviews live on RateMyPlacement.co.uk from work experience opportunities that concluded in 2014.

On the next page you will find all 100 organisations that have finished in the Top 100 Undergraduate Employers Table, in alphabetical order of course!

The Top 100 Undergraduate Employers, Top 30 Medium-sized Undergraduate Schemes and all five finalists for the Top Small to Medium-sized Undergraduate Employer Award combine to create the Top Undergraduate Employers Tables, which will be publicly launched in September 2015 (to coincide with the release of the publication ‘A Student’s Guide to the Top Undergraduate Employers’).

The Guide will be released at the beginning of the 2015 - 2016 academic year, with 85,000 copies reaching campuses, lectures, fairs and careers services across the UK. 24

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

Final Word

The RMP Enterprise team would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for attending the National Undergraduate Employability Awards.

Special thanks go to all of our sponsors for their invaluable support and to etc. venues for hosting the NUE Awards. We’d also like to thank all of our guests for continuing to contribute excellence in the UK undergraduate work experience market. Here’s to another fantastic year!

Finally, congratulations to all of our finalists and winners. You have set an extremely high benchmark for others to follow in the future and we urge you to continue striving for excellence in all that you do.

Thanks again for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you next year!

Oliver Sidwell and the RMP Enterprise team

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The National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2015

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RMP Enterprise creates opportunities for organisations and institutions to engage, inform and interact with young people looking to take the first steps in their career.

RateMyPlacement.co.uk RateMyPlacement is the UK’s leading website for undergraduate work experience. Receiving two million student visitors each year, we work with more than 350 clients across a wide range of industries to promote their brand and undergraduate opportunities to our audience of career-conscious students.

Top Undergraduate Employers Every year, thousands of student-written reviews on RateMyPlacement make up the coveted UK’s Top Undergraduate Employers Guide. This table forms the basis of our unique student publication, A Student’s Guide to the Top Undergraduate Employers.

The National Undergraduate Employability Awards The National Undergraduate Employability Awards is entering its sixth year, showcasing the outstanding achievements of employers, universities and students in undergraduate employability.

On-Campus Promotions We work closely with our clients to plan and deliver on-campus campaigns, targeting the right students in innovative and engaging ways. All of our services revolve around what we call the 3Ts – Tailored, Targeted and Trackable.

RMP Connect Our data capture app, online form, on campus events and Facebook apps have allowed organisations to build databases of tens of thousands of students. Our engagement tracking system has lead to hundreds of thousands of emails being sent, with an open rate more than double the industry average.

RateMyApprenticeship.co.uk Providing relevant and engaging peer-to-peer information, the website helps young people consider all of their future career options.

A School Leaver’s Guide to Career Options Launched in January 2015, the Guide educates and informs young people, schools and parents. The reviews written by young people compiled from RateMyApprenticeship.co.uk create a table of top employers, of which are also featured in the Guide.

www.rmpenterprise.co.uk