Agcas: Small businesses allow employees to develop

Small businesses allow their employees greater scope to develop and "make their mark", the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Service (Agcas) has claimed.

Margaret Dane, Agcas chief executive, says that employees are more "visible" in small firms and says that graduates, in particular, can benefit from seeking employment with a small business.

"Support systems may be less formal, but may also be more personal for that very reason, so working for an SME (small or medium-sized enterprise) can prove an attractive option," she commented.

Ms Dane adds that a majority of graduates start their careers working for small locally-based employers, with only 20 per cent choosing to work for large organisations when they finish university.

According to last year's UK Graduate Career Survey, 70 to 80 per cent of the UK's fastest growing small businesses were founded by graduates.