A group of Business Students from Bridgwater College have recently been given the opportunity to undertake an excellent work experience with NatWest Bank.

Work Experience forms an extremely important part of the student’s curriculum, not only do they gain vital experience to ensure they are work ready and have the skills necessary to become more employable, they also are able to experience business first hand to bring to life certain aspects of their course.

The group of six students, who are studying the Level 2 or Level 3 Business Studies courses at the College, spent the week at various branches in the South West. Leah Harding, Tim Gumbs and Kinga Bieniek spent the week in Bridgwater’s NatWest branch. Chloe Callaghan and Celine Holyland were based in the Burnham-on-Sea branch and Raja Malik completed his work experience in Minehead.

During their time with NatWest, the students were able to see all aspects of banking, including customer relations and customer service and business banking. The group were also able to gain an understanding of the different accounts the bank offers and were given the opportunity to shadow the senior bank managers by sitting in on meetings with clients. Some even took part in staff meetings and video conferencing.

Abbie Brogden, Work Placement Co-ordinator at Bridgwater College said,

“Work experience is so important to our student’s futures, with the competition for jobs higher than ever it is vital that we give our students meaningful experiences in the work place to ensure they leave us with all the tools to succeed in their chosen careers.”

Andy Flint, Director for NatWest Business Banking added,

“As a company we’re always looking at ways in which we can support the local community and attract new recruits. All the students were a credit to the College and we look forward to hosting another group in the future.”