ENGINEERING companies that recruit a graduate intern during August are among the firms that could be eligible for up to £11,000 towards their salary.

Under Teesside University’s Graduates for Business scheme, firms are awarded 50 per cent of the salary they will pay the intern during their stay with the company, up to a maximum of £11,000 a year.

After August, the subsidy will return to its previous level of a maximum £4,000 towards salary costs for a graduate taken on for between two and 12 months.

Start dates for the interns are flexible, but firms must sign up for the scheme, which aims to help SMEs bring in additional skills while providing graduates with a foot on the career ladder, by the end of this month to secure the extra level of funding, which is provided through the European Regional Development Fund.

Since 2011 the university has worked with 189 SMEs on its internship schemes, which come under the Graduate Spark banner, and is aiming to work with a further 100 firms by March next year.

Laura Woods, director of academic enterprise at Teesside University, said: “Our graduate internship scheme has had a huge impact on SMEs across the North East and we are delighted that more companies will now be able to take advantage of it.

“Taking on a talented graduate under this scheme can help a company to complete a specific project or bring new skills to a business and help it to grow. We hope that many companies, in the engineering sector and other industries, will be able to access the benefits that employing an intern can bring.”

The scheme is open to a wide range of business and industry sectors from architects to digital industries and a number of engineering firms are amongst those to have already taken advantage.

Populus Select, an energy, oil and petrochemical recruitment specialist and Mech-Tool Engineering, both based in Darlington, are two firms which have previously benefitted from the scheme.

Law graduate Adam Roberts joined Populus Select on a three-month contract before his position as a consultant was made permanent.

Populus Select managing director Sim Hall said: “‘Adam brought a new perspective to the company and there was no hesitation in making his position permanent. The scheme has been fantastic and there has been a great deal of support throughout the whole process. It’s excellent to see Teesside University is not only helping graduates find employment, but at the same time examining ways they can help support regional businesses.”

Business graduate Paul Heslop joined Mech-Tool on an internship before securing a full time position as a market researcher with the firm.

For further details on recruiting an intern contact Teesside University business team on 01642 384068 or email business@tees.ac.uk