Unite with bUSINESS

Information for clients

What is the ‘Unite with Business’ Project?

The Unite with Business project offers small to medium sized businesses (SME’s) a business support programme, to increase business innovation, performance and productivity.

Business support is provided via graduates, final year undergraduates and postgraduate university students. These individuals work within your business for a period of 20 days, with the nature of the work being to address a skills or resource shortage within your company – e.g. designing or re-designing a website, developing a communications or marketing strategy or even prototyping a new product.

The graduate or student will be sourced with your business needs as a priority, thus possessing the skills required to undertake the task. All graduates, final year undergraduates and postgraduates, regardless of university of origin, are considered eligible for consideration.

What are the benefits of this programme?

You will benefit from having the up-to-date skills, knowledge and enthusiasm a university student or graduate can bring to a small organisation. This can inject a positive impact on a strategic project of value to your business with demonstrable impacts, such as new products, new markets, increased sales and new customers.

Should you want to keep a student or graduate on longer than the 20 day period supported by the project, this programme enables you to explore the graduate employee marketplace on a low risk basis.

Who can join this programme?

The project is open to applications from *SME’s based within the north-west (except Merseyside).

*EC definition of SME: Independent enterprises that are not more than 25% owned by another company/group, that have fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding €50m (£34 million) or a balance-sheet total not exceeding €43m (£29 million) – some sector exclusions also apply.

How much does it cost my business to join the programme?

Nothing, it’s free! During the 20 day period the student or graduate’s salary is paid via the project. The cost to your business will be one of time only to ensure your business objectives are met. The placement hours can be spread flexibly over a period of several months where this meets the needs of your business and allows students or graduates to fit the work round their study commitments.

What will my input and commitment to the project be?

As highlighted above, the main commitment for your business will be one of time. This is a two year project whose outputs will be measured by the financial and employment security benefits linked to the graduate or student undertaking the work within your business. To enable these factors to be effectively measured your Unite with Business Advisor will need to make a series of monitoring visits over this period, usually at key milestones after the project (six, twelve, eighteen months etc).

How do I apply to join the programme?

To apply to join the project you can register an initial application of interest by contacting Jackie Gregory or Imran Adia at Lancaster University on 01524 594982/592960 or e-mail unite@lancaster.ac.uk.