As an organisation in Basingstoke, Lenovo wanted to make a long-term investment into the local community and inspire the next generation to consider careers in STEM. EBP South have served as an excellent bridge, connecting businesses with schools through a vast variety of events and great relationships within the community.
“Hampshire has been home to Lenovo for over 17 years and we’re committed to serving our community. Collaborating with organisations like EBP South is vital to help prepare our young people for life outside full-time education. But more importantly, inspiring them to study STEM subjects at university and go on to technical careers. Innovation fuels tech companies like Lenovo, so it’s vital we’re exciting the engineers, developers and critical thinkers of tomorrow.”
Adam Lupton, HR Director, Lenovo UK and Ireland
How did you first hear about EBP South?
Lenovo’s relationship with EBP South started in 2019 when we were celebrating 35 years of Lenovo. We attended the EBP South Empowering Your Future celebrating International Women’s Day event as Covid hit. We were looking to kick something off in 2020/21 and do more but online became difficult with so much going on and so much uncertainty about the tech world and how we as a Company would come out of Covid we decided against it. We were conscious of the need for there to be a real connect with the school children, to create an interest in the careers available within our Basingstoke office. When the intern team joined last year we were looking for a project for the group to do and had been emailed the EBP South event dates. We were conscious of the need for there to be a real connect with the school children, to create an interest in the careers available within our Basingstoke office.
Why did you choose to partner with EBP South?
EBP have a fantastic relationship with local schools and provide an ideal gateway for corporate companies like Lenovo to access this pool of future talent. They allow the network and link between education and the real workplace to be possible. EBP South also have a great selection of both small and large events to interact with a vast number of students – suitable for all companies.
Since we were first introduced to EBP South we have collaborated effectively and agreed sponsorship and partnership on several major events they have run locally, as well as getting involved in some of the in-school events e.g. Business Speed Networking, an Interview Preparation Day and Employer Interviews. EBP South have been very supportive of us as students, taking out time for weekly catch-up calls. Our strong communication has allowed our preparation to be efficient, and a flow of feedback going both ways assisted improving the future events.
What has been the most valuable aspect of the partnership, and why?
It has been rewarding to utilise our placement project at Lenovo to inspire the younger generation in early careers similar to our own with the help from EBP South. EBP South have given us a valuable opportunity to work with and engage students to break down stereotypes associated with careers in technology, allowing us to explore our creativity and take ownership of our partnership.
Managing the project in its entirety, with the business giving us complete ownership and responsibility, we have gained invaluable project management skills. We have coordinated and collaborated to bring together event stands, student activities, and management presentations while juggling our day-to-day roles too. Doing this project has also encouraged us to communicate with teams within Lenovo which we wouldn’t have spoken to otherwise, improving our understanding of Lenovo and some of their CSR goals.
Would you recommend that others work with EBP South?
We would recommend others to experience working with EBP South as they have consistent and effective communication whilst allowing us autonomy to explore our vision. We would highly recommend working with EBP South as not only have they organised a series of great events, but they have also been extremely supportive of what we were trying to do, guiding us along the way. They have been very receptive about our new ideas and suggestions.
What call to action would you give to other organisations considering partnering with EBP South?
These events have been a great way to engage with the local community, giving us the opportunity to truly understand the mentality of the future workforce. It has also been exceptionally rewarding seeing the reaction of the students to some of the latest and greatest technology and listening to their creative ideas about improvements and applications. In addition, we have built long-lasting relationships within our team. We would strongly encourage any organisation to get involved in these events.
“There have been plenty of moments that stand out for me over the course of this project. The students excitement and amazement towards the technology they haven’t seen before really demonstrated that anyone can be passionate about STEM. Alongside to the memories created with the students, presenting to and speaking with the Mayor of Basingstoke was an unexpected experience in this project.”
Nick Cameron, Lenovo Intern
“Looking back to when we started this project just under a year ago, we were 7 placement students with a vision. Here we are today, looking back at what we’ve achieved – 3 STEM events, 2 school visits to the office, plus a multitude of schools visited – reaching over 1200 students. We have over-achieved and that is extremely rewarding.”
Tara Heider, Lenovo Intern
