14 March, 2008

A SHETLAND seafood business has been named the best work experience provider in the UK during a ceremony hosted by the National Council for Work Experience (NCWE).

Shetland Seafood Auctions (SSA) beat some of the UK's biggest household names such as Virgin Atlantic Airways and Johnson & Johnson to win the award.

The company operates the electronic fish auction based in the Lerwick fish market and employs just seven members of staff.

NCWE manager Heather Collier said: "We chose Shetland Seafood Auctions because it provided an outstanding scheme for students that allowed the placement student to develop a varied and impressive skill set through the one-to-one mentoring provided by the company.

"Taking place in a comparatively remote geographical location where recruitment and retention of talent is often an extra challenge for employers, the excellent quality of Shetland Seafood Auctions work experience scheme really stood out."

Ms Collier referred to student Emily Garrick who in October last year was named Scotland and Northern Ireland's most enterprising student after completing a placement at Shetland Seafood Auctions.

Ms Garrick, a German and business studies student, had spent the summer developing a marketing and web-development project for the Lerwick based company. As a result interest in the opportunities the seafood auction company can offer have come from 50 additional businesses.

Presenting the NCWE awards to SSA manager Martin Leyland in London on Wednesday afternoon, the director general of the British Chamber of Commerce, David Frost, said the value of work experience could not be understated.

He added: "It provides people with something they can't get from a school classroom or a university lecture hall. Real learning, especially knowledge of the world of business, comes from spending time in a business, watching the hustle and bustle but more importantly getting actively involved."

Shetland Seafood Auctions also picked up the award for placements in companies with less than 10 employees.