SOUTH Lakeland businesses are being offered the chance to pick the brains of the country's brightest undergraduates this summer.

Firms with fewer than 25 staff needing help to carry out a specific business or technical project can take advantage of the Cumbria STEP programme, which sends undergraduates on summer placements with businesses.

They can apply for a grant of up to £700 from South Lakeland District Council to help covert up to half the costs of the DTI-backed scheme.

Projects run from four weeks to 12 months, with students receiving a training allowance of £175 a week. The projects can range from marketing plans and website design to research and office reorganisation.

Students are paid directly by STEP and the businesses are invoiced for their contribution.

Veronica Wood, project manager for STEP in Cumbria, said: "This programme has proven to be very successful for both the students and the businesses involved. It allows businesses easy access to degree level skills and provides them with fresh ideas, while the students benefit enormously both professionally and personally from the experience."

A number of South Lakeland companies have already benefited from the scheme, notably Goacher Sails Ltd of Windermere.

The firm was able to make use of Jonathan Nicholson of Windermere, studying in Manchester, whose CAD development work resulted in substantial cuts in production costs. His efforts also earned him a STEP award as the most enterprising student in both Cumbria and the North West last year.

For more information about the STEP programme, contact Veronica Wood on 01228-616315, For details about SLDC sponsorship, contact economic development officer Audrey Taylor on 01539-733333, ext 7349, or email: a.taylor@southlakeland.gov.uk