A “best collaboration” award has been made to a university by the Thames recognising its partnership with the Ogilvy advertising agency at Canary Wharf.

East London Advertiser: 'Rough Diamond' scheme for Ravensbourne students for internships at Ogylgy's in Canary Wharf'Rough Diamond' scheme for Ravensbourne students for internships at Ogylgy's in Canary Wharf (Image: Ravensbourne Uni PR)

Ravensbourne Uni and the agency were joint winners of the title at this year’s National Undergraduate Employability awards for “the most effective and influential collaborations between a university and employer”.

The partnership offers students additional employability skills and opportunities.

The collaboration began in 2011 with the “rough diamond” programme to develop and nurture creative talent, which is open to second-year students at the university on the Greenwich Peninsular to get a 12-month internship at Canary Wharf.

“It has really changed the way we look at future talent,” Ogilvy director Nicole Yerson said. “We can put these students straight to work on live briefs as they have the skillset ready to go.

“We immerse them in our business, giving them the space to learn and grow, with guidance along the way.”

Ogilvy have employed 13 Ravensbourne students since the start of the collaboration which has a 50 per cent rate of hiring at the end of each year’s intake.

Ravensbourne’s Jo Eaton said: “The award finally gains us recognition after six years. It acknowledges the successes of students who have benefitted from the programme.”

The partnership competed with 400 nominations from employers, universities and students. The winners of each award category were selected by an independent panel of industry professionals.

Ravensbourne and Ogilvy managed to ward off competition from five other finalists in their category—University of East Anglia with East of England Energy Group, EC Futures with Tata Technologies, Birmingham University with Capgemini, Nottingham University with International Celebrity Networks and Glasgow Caledonian University with Enterprise car rental.