Firms are rewarded for their work with graduates

The awards, founded by Graduates Yorkshire, are to celebrate the commitment to the personal and professional development of Yorkshire’s graduates by the region’s employers.

Martin Edmondson, chief executive of Graduates Yorkshire, said: “Times are hard for businesses, so we wanted to recognise those organisations that are not only recruiting graduates, but are actively investing in their training and skills development. These employers are vital for the growth and prosperity of our region. They are creating employment opportunities, retaining graduate level skills in Yorkshire, and training future leaders, which is why these awards are so important.”

The winner of the Micro Yorkshire Graduate Employer of the Year Award was Approach PR, the Medium Yorkshire Graduate Employer of the Year Award went to Epiphany Solutions and the Large Yorkshire Graduate Employer of the Year Award was given to Cameron.

The judges said that Bradford-based Approach PR is achieving “the sort of university and graduate engagement that you might expect from a far larger business”, while they said that Leeds-based Epiphany Solutions, which works internationally, understands the value in developing talented people for the industry as a whole. Cameron’s approach was described as “strongly community rooted”.

Approach PR was also awarded the Yorkshire Graduate Employer of the Year Award, which was judged from the winners of the previous three awards.

The awards ceremony was held at Anthony’s Piazza in Leeds Corn Exchange. The night was Yorkshire themed, starting with a rhubarb cocktail and finishing off with a locally sourced band, Vibetown, through Leeds College of Music.

Graduates Yorkshire is a social enterprise which helps the region’s graduates find graduate level jobs, and help local companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, access graduate talent.