Aramark employs students from its education business

Aramark is putting its money where its mouth is, after recruiting record levels of students from its education accounts.

The contract caterer has taken on 13 students from the University of Westminster to work at the university's campus food outlets and at catered events. The move takes the total number of students employed from within its educational contracts to more than 50 nationwide.

Fiona Martin, Aramark's client relationships director for education, said: "Increasingly, universities and higher education colleges are looking to their suppliers to demonstrate the extra value they can bring to a contract. A really effective way of doing this is to employ some of their students, providing them with an income and a great addition to their CV."

She added that it provides a triple win for all three parties: "For the universities, working with a service provider shows their commitment to supporting student employability, while for students, they gain valuable employment experience with hours that suit their studies, while earning extra income."

And for the caterer, Martin has found that the initiative provides skilled, enthusiastic employees who understand what their fellow students want. "They really add to the success of our service on site," she said.

Aramark also employs home-grown students in five other higher education client accounts and on these sites, where one in six of their employees is now a student.