Wenta received national recognition last week when they were awarded ‘Agency of the Year 2009’ at the National Shell Step Awards.  The Award was announced during a dedicated ceremony at Shell UK’s Shell Centre in London.  Wenta fought off competition from 22 other agents running the programme across the country.

The award follows a record year for Wenta, in its capacity as agent for Shell Step for Bedfordshire,    Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, placing 31 highly motivated students with small and medium sized companies to undertake projects over the summer.
 
As well as recognising the efforts of the Agencies who run the programme the event was primarily to showcase the outstanding results Shell Step students achieved during their placements and to announce the Shell Step Most Enterprising Student 2009.  Wenta have been running the programme since 2004 and for the first time were delighted to have one of their students reach the final 12 to compete in the national final.

Andrew Chamberlain a Business Management student from The University of East Anglia undertook at placement at Emily Lingerie, a maternity and nursing lingerie company based in Cheshunt.  Andrew’s project was to assess and develop a successful retail operation for the company. He suggested establishing a sister company ensuring that mass on-line marketing for a budget brand could be achieved without diluting the premier brand.  The company have implemented Andrew’s idea and as a result Emily Ltd forecast an increase of £200,000 of sales.

Having won both the area and regional finals Andrew Chamberlain went on achieve Third Place overall. No mean feat, considering 21,000 students applied for placements across the country. 

Commenting on Wenta’s win, Shell Step said, “Wenta’s enthusiasm and energy, as well as their professionalism, proved a winning formula for their success”.

Wenta’s Education & Training Manager, Sharon Gaffney was delighted with Andrew’s achievement and Wenta’s success and said, “For Andrew to have come third nationwide is an amazing achievement and something to be really proud of, and I know he has a successful career path ahead of him.  As for us winning our award, it is the icing on the cake.  The team worked brilliantly together and I am so pleased that their hard work has been recognised with the Agency of the Year Award”.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Shell Step scheme for next year and the New Graduate Placement Scheme running from September – March 2010 should call Wenta on 0845 371 0891 or email education@wenta.co.uk.