Grads4Nottm 2018 – NTU students take part in local business challenges

A host of businesses from Nottinghamshire will put their challenges to students as the annual Grads4Nottm scheme returns.

Group photo of graduates and employers from last year's scheme

Grads4Nottm: Bringing students and business together

Around 100 students from Nottingham Trent University will spend two weeks working with local businesses of all sizes, gaining valuable work experience whilst solving business challenges.

Companies including Boots UK, Go Dine and local SMEs will be partnered with teams of students who will work on challenges ranging from graphic design, project management and brand campaigns, to animation, retail sales and product development.

The programme, which runs from 11 - 22 June, aims to boost the number of graduates staying in the county for employment.

Boots UK, whose head office is in Nottingham, is taking part in the challenge again having been impressed with the work of students in last year’s scheme.

Hayley Dennett, Recruitment Manager, Talent Programmes at Boots UK, said: “We work very closely with our local universities in the community and we are delighted to support Grads4Nottm again this year.

“It is a fantastic initiative, which highlights to students the professional employment choices available right on their doorstep in Nottingham.

“It also gives us a chance to provide students, with a great insight into what it’s like to work for Boots UK, and it also helps to improve their confidence and employability when they enter the job market.”

Students and employers taking part have attended separate kick-start events to prepare them for the challenge before meeting for the first time at the launch event on 11 June.

Amy Underwood, Business Development Consultant at Nottingham Trent University, said: “We are looking forward to another year of exciting challenges set by organisations and companies based in Nottinghamshire.

“The scheme is a brilliant opportunity for students and graduates to demonstrate the skills they have learnt at university by engaging with businesses that make an important economic and social contribution to the county.”

Notes for editors

Press enquiries please contact Sarah McLeod, Corporate PR Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8735, or via email.

Nottingham Trent University was named University of the Year 2017 at the Times Higher Education Awards and Modern University of the Year in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018. The award recognises NTU for its strong student satisfaction, quality of teaching, overall student experience and engagement with employers.

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has been awarded the highest, gold, rating in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework for its outstanding teaching and learning.
NTU is one of the largest UK universities with nearly 28,000 students and more than 3,500 staff across four campuses, contributing £496m to the UK economy every year. It is one of the most environmentally-friendly universities, containing some of the country’s most inspiring and efficient award-winning buildings.

The University is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable Nottingham Trent to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is the sixth biggest recruiter of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in the country and 95.6% of the its graduates go on to employment or further education within six months of leaving.

NTU is home to world-class research, winning The Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2015 - the highest national honour for a UK university. It recognised the University’s pioneering projects to improve weapons and explosives detection in luggage, enable safer production of powdered infant formula and combat food fraud.

With an international student population of approximately 2,600 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook.