News & Information

Gradsouthwest, a recruitment website offering graduate jobs in the South West now has over ten thousand active job seekers registered on its website.  
 
Seventy five per cent of those who have registered with gradsouthwest are from South West universities and colleges and the remaining twenty five per cent are from the rest of the country and the world. The website has attracted visitors from as far afield as the Faroe Islands, Peru and Russia, all searching for a graduate job in the South West.  
 
The innovative online recruitment and information service will be just one of the projects helping to extend higher education's contribution to the South West economy to be profiled at the South West Higher Education Regional Development Association's (HERDA - SW) annual conference being held in Torquay on 13 and 14 November 2003.  
 
Gradsouthwest is a collaboration of the region's fourteen universties and is also targeted at students studying at further education colleges in the South West. The South West Regional Development Agency has funded gradsouthwest for the first two years of the project as part of its efforts to attract and keep graduates in the region.  
 
Wendy Atkinson, project manager of gradsouthwest, said: " It is a massive achievement to have over ten thousand graduates looking for work registered with the website. The fact that seventy five per cent of our graduates are already living in the region shows that people really do want the high quality of life the region has to offer combined with good job prospects."  
 
Sean Mackney of HERDA - SW said: "We recently published a report which showed graduate jobs in the South West may not be visible enough, causing high quality graduates who choose to study in the South West to leave the area in search of perceived better career opportunities else where. Gradsouthwest aims to tackle this 'brain drain' by promoting the region as a place to work and by matching jobs in businesses in the South West to graduates with the right skills and qualifications. This important issue will be discussed at the HERDA- SW annual conference this week."  
 
RDA chairman, Juliet Williams, who is giving the keynote speech at the HERDA-SW conference on Thursday, said: "It is essential that universities and colleges work closely with the region's businesses to produce the graduates that are needed in our key industry sectors. We need to persuade businesses that employing graduates can increase their productivity, competitiveness and profitability."  
 
www.gradsouthwest.com  
 
Ends 
 
Notes to News Editors: 
 
1. The South West of England Regional Development Agency was created in April 1999 to further the economic development and regeneration of the area; to promote business efficiency, investment and competitiveness; to promote employment; to develop the skills relevant to employment; and to contribute to sustainable development.  
 
2. The Higher Education Regional Development Association - South West (HERDA - SW) was formed in August 1999 to extend higher education's contribution to the social and economic development of the South West and to help shape the agenda in relation to social and economic development of the region through joint action.  
 
3. HERDA-SW's 4th annual conference takes place on the 13th and 14th November at the Imperial Hotel in Torquay. The conference will cover 7 different areas relating to higher education through a variety of workshops and briefings. These are:  
Regional policy context  
Research and the regions  
Building a knowledge economy  
Promoting south west higher education  
Gateway to learning  
Supporting HE staff  
Partnership development  
For further information please contact herda-sw

Contact
Sean Mackney
T: 01392 229579
E: herda-sw@southwestrda.org.uk