Brightnetwork

Bright Network, the highest-ranked social recruitment site in the UK, is an independent, free, invitation-only careers network for graduates and undergraduates in the UK who achieve ABB at A Level (or equivalent). Bright Network members benefit from a social network, exclusive events and one-on-one consultancy, all designed specifically to help students, graduates and young professionals connect with the top UK and international employers.

Launched only 18 months ago, Bright Network already works with over 50 leading companies, including Allen & Overy, Goldman Sachs, innocent drinks, The Mind Gym and KPMG.

Bright Network was originally conceived by its founder James Uffindell in 2007, when he had the idea to increase the opportunities both for bright graduates to find out AbOUT career options and for firms to identify the best talent.

In March 2011, Bright Network attracted investment from a consortium of angel investors with impressive track records in recruitment and technology. Michael Jackson, leading venture capitalist and former chairman of technology business Sage and Zach Miles, former CEO of Vedior , the recruitment business that was acquired for €3.5 billion by Ranstad in 2008, will join the company's board. Michael Jackson will become Bright Network's Chairman.

Website

Bright Network launched its new social media site in October 2009 and released it to students and graduates in early 2010 with a series of soft launches. To apply to join Bright Network, students are required to have a minimum of ABB/320 UCAS points at A Level or equivalent and are expected to be studying at, or graduated from, one of the UK’s top 20 or Russell Group universities. The network aims to make the quality of candidates on the Bright Network consistently high and therefore match the requirements of its featured graduate employers across a range of sectors.

Events

As well as being an online network, Bright Network aims to encourage the building of personal networks through events intended to provide undergraduates and graduates with useful career connections. The network also encourages recruiters to connect with students and graduates. There is a dedicated section on the network for events organised by the company, which includes Bright Network Loves You evenings and their annual Bright Network Festival.

Bright Network Loves You is an informal evening event where Bright Network members receive a free, one-on-one careers consultation, before networking with a glass of wine and nibbles. The consultations provide an opportunity for Bright Network members to find out about opportunities available to them, as well as to make personal career connections.

Bright Evenings are themed networking evenings featuring guest speakers from a particular industry or issue relevant to students and graduates. Bright Evening events in 2010 included:

• June 2010 Evening Event – Getting into Private Equity - YouTube. Bright Network invited a panel of industry experts to give a short talk about their career experiences and to offer their advice about the best ways to get into the industry. The panel comprised Stewart Licudi, Vice President and Head of the Financial Sponsors Group and the European Technology Team at William Blair International who has worked on a broad range of cross-border transactions involving private equity, Hephzi Pemberton, a Partner at Kea Consultants who previously worked for Goldcap Search and was an Analyst at Lehman Brothers, Martin Mignot, Associate at Index Ventures and previously an Analyst at UBS in London, and Toby Lewis, acting news editor at Private Equity News.

• July 2010 Evening Event – Getting into Consultancy - YouTube. Representatives from leading management and strategy consultancy firms gave presentations to Bright Network members interested on starting a consultancy career. The panel at this event consisted of Gemma Farrell, a consultant with OC&C, George Mendes, a Strategy Consultant with Accenture and Richard Tydeman, a Senior Associate Consultant at Bain & Company.

• August 2010 Evening Event - Getting into FMCG, Retail and Marketing. Bright Network hosted an event featuring presentations from Innocent Drinks, Mars, Incorporated, John Lewis (department store) and WPP.

• November 2010 Evening Event - Getting into Hedge Funds and Asset Management. Speakers were invited from leading and boutique hedge funds and asset management funds to network with Bright Network members.

The Bright Festival is an annual event run every September in Central London by Bright Network, consisting of the Commercial Law Network and Investment Banking Network networking events. Students who successfully apply to attend meet representatives at leading law and banking firms.

Bright Consultancy

Bright Network offers one-to-one careers consultancy through its Bright Consultancy Division.

Current Bright Network Team members

• James Uffindell, CEO
• David Cohen, Strategy & Finance Director
• Claudia Bosworth, Commercial Director
• Rachel Spedding, Communications Director
• Julia Bowtell, Client & Marketing Manager
• Catherine Connell, Senior Consultant
• Liam Cadman, Consultant
• Markus Rafferty, Head of Development
• Julien Brancher, Developer

Previous Bright Network Team members

• Adam Hadley, Founding CTO August 2009 - May 2011