A STUDENT has been given a step up with a programme designed to team undergraduates with small businesses.

In place of the traditional student summer employment in bars or supermarkets, Leigh Wilkinson, 20, found herself working on an important finance project for a stair-lift manufacturer.

Leigh, of Chester-le-Street, is one of ten students selected to join one of County Durham's small or medium-sized companies on the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP). The eight-week programme matches undergraduates with businesses that need specific projects completing.

Leigh said: "I'm really pleased to have this chance because now I'm not only earning money, but I have the challenge of completing a real project within a time scale and gaining hands-on business management experience.

"I know some STEP students have saved companies thousands of pounds with their projects so you feel that you are making a real contribution rather than just doing a bit of work experience."

Leigh, studying physics with business management at the University of York, is updating a register of fixed assets for Bison Bede in Consett.

Other students are working on projects covering research, IT, electronic engineering and marketing.