The quality of the students that attended our assessment centre this year was incredible, testimony to our ever growing placement scheme, and what better way to celebrate the ProspectSoft talent than by taking a trip to London to see first-hand how placement schemes are complimenting businesses nationwide.

Every year, the NUE Awards is a huge event in the ProspectSoft calendar and there’s certainly a buzz about the office in the weeks leading up to it! This year we were nominated for the Best SME Placement Provider, an award that we have been lucky enough to win four times previously, and after all our hard work submitting the application we were invited along as a finalist once again!

Eager for the day to arrive, we all headed over to Bishopsgate and what a spectacular event it turned out to be! RateMyPlacement really pulled out all the stops this year – there was a live band, some truly inspirational speakers and we even had Steak and Chips during one of the breakouts! As well as the award ceremony, the day offers the chance to network and to see what both corporate and small businesses across the UK are doing to promote placement schemes, and just as importantly what placement students are doing to help them!

As a young woman aspiring to move forward in the business world, one of the highlights of the event for me was most definitely the special guest speaker Josephine Fairley, Co-Founder of the world renowned chocolate brand, Green & Black’s. Having originally been a journalist without a business degree, Josephine expressed her firm belief that the success of her chocolate was planted in the true passion for the product and eye for design, all while having a positive organic impact on the planet! I found the concept of creating a brand that came to be recognised worldwide while also maintaining their ethical sourcing standards to be so admirable – and of course it does help that the chocolate tastes delicious too!

We also managed to catch up with the RateMyPlacement team, and much like ProspectSoft they’re always keen to carry on the socialising afterwards! We finished up the night enjoying some drinks and a dance with the other finalists, certificate in tow safely tucked away in our RMP goodie bag!

Now I can definitely see why everyone here at ProspectSoft looks forward to the NUE Awards so much – I had an amazing time and most importantly it was a great opportunity to share our experiences with other placements at so many different companies. Already, we have some big ideas for next year’s application in our goal to take home the award in 2016 – so watch this space.