Four students and recent graduates are engaging with BAME-owned SMEs to identify opportunities to successfully bid for work on major contracts, as part of a paid internship.
Date: 8 March 2022
Four London Met students and recent Community Development and Leadership graduates are undertaking a research project into the barriers faced by small, BAME-owned companies in gaining larger contracts.
Stacey Van-Rossum, Nisha Taylor, Abeba Mersha and Robina Mbeyi are doing this research as part of a paid internship with ISG, a global construction specialist.
The students said, "In the procurement process, major organisations tend to stick with what they know’ and work with the organisations they have worked with for years instead of giving the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) a chance.
"They felt they had built up strong relationships over the years and there was the trust/risk factor; they knew how the organisations they’d worked with previously worked and trusted them to get the job done. Whereas, if they went with a new SME, there was added risk due to not knowing how they work and if they were up to the task."
The students are engaging with BAME-owned SMEs to identify opportunities to successfully bid for work on major contracts.
The internship opportunity came about when an alumna, Tanis Jacobs, came back to the University to deliver a talk about pursuing careers with social values, advising them "not to be afraid to apply for jobs with big names at big organisations."
Alongside Patrick Mulrenan, Associate Professor of Learning and Course Leader for Community Development and Leadership, Tanis developed the internship offering to help pass on opportunities to the next generation of London Met graduates.
