FIRSTGROUP, the UK’s largest transport operator, enjoyed a successful evening at yesterday’s (6 October) Northern Star Business Awards. The Aberdeen based company picked up the coveted ‘Student Placement Award’.
FirstGroup has a strong track record of supporting student placements throughout its UK businesses. At its Aberdeen headquarters for example, two students have been employed this year gaining valuable experience in the HR, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Marketing and Public Relations departments.
Picking up the award last night were David Coutts, Head of HR in Scotland, and Dorota Rubis, a placement student within FirstGroup’s HR Department.
Dorota has worked with First since June 2010 and is now combining her studies in Management and Human Resources at Robert Gordon University with working part-time for the company. She said: “FirstGroup has been fully committed to my personal and professional development and provided me with a fantastic opportunity to work with and learn from the best HR & CSR professionals in the transport industry. My colleagues made me feel welcome from the very first day and the overall placement experience has been second to none.”
David Coutts said: “I’m delighted that our student placement scheme has received such public recognition. We try to give our students a unique insight into how our business operates and provide them with tasks and opportunities that can provide real value to the business as a whole.
He added: “Dorota has been our shining star this year. We were so impressed with her overall performance that we have appointed her to a part-time role within the team, while she completes her last year at university. She has an incredibly bright future.”
FirstGroup’s student placement scheme also drew praise from Professor Rita Marcella, Dean of Aberdeen Business School. She said: “FirstGroup is one of Aberdeen’s tremendous success stories. That success can be attributed to the quality of its people, particularly at FirstGroup headquarters in Aberdeen. It’s thanks to First’s proactive approach to recruitment, such as its student placement scheme and its graduate and apprentice initiatives, that it can attract talented people and continue to be one of the best organisations in Scotland.”
The Northern Star Business Awards is the most prestigious awards event in the north east of Scotland and is held annually in Aberdeen. This year the awards were hosted by TV presenter, Gaby Roslin.