Annual report to use! - Prospects

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Advertising Sales: Allan Brown, Head of Sales Review of the Year Our products and services continue to retain marketleading positions in terms of use and value for UK recruiters, according to recruiter research. This continued position of strength ensures we are in a better position than our key competitors in a time of economic difficulty. Sluggish economic growth in 2003 continued to put pressure on the recruitment advertising market, a continuation from 2002. The recruitment advertising market declined throughout the year. We did, however, see the GDP position improve in Q4 which, if sustained, will impact on the market in 2004. In line with this, graduate recruiters have reduced their intake for the second year in succession. This, combined with an increase in the number of graduating students, has reduced the need to market as extensively as in the past, reflected in reduced budgets. However, the public sector is one area where increased investment is being put into recruitment. Nonetheless, the strength of the product range, our reputation within the market and the Graduate Prospects brand itself continued to serve us well. Although pressure on Prospects Today was unrelenting, we retained a market-leading position in the recent graduate immediate vacancies market. The successful launch of getalife.org.uk, our new product for the public and not-for-profit sectors, demonstrates our ability to understand our markets and respond quickly. The increased exposure in this area resulted in year on year (YOY) growth of Prospects Public Services. Work Experience also saw YOY growth. The remainder of the final year portfolio continued to perform well in a challenging and very competitive market. In particular, Prospects Directory increased market share substantially. Increased pressure on recruiter budgets has been good news for electronic products. The lower entry costs and improved targeting of the products has seen budgets diverted into this area, resulting in e-commerce YOY growth in excess of 35%. Though this is good news, traditional paper revenues are put under pressure as the use of electronic media increases. On the other hand, it is also a good opportunity to acquire new customers through our electronic channels, then move them across to paper through structured account development. The continued development of our existing customer relationships resulting in improved product penetration is key for the coming year. This, combined with the continued pursuit of new markets and vertical customer groups, will improve our revenue streams and market share position, whilst developing the customers of tomorrow. Publishing: Jayne Rowley, Head of Publishing & Product Managers Product and project management September 2003 saw a major restructuring of the publishing department with the establishment of two separate product and project management teams. The product managers are responsible for the day-to-day running of the Prospects portfolio of publications, which form the backbone of Graduate Prospects’ commercial operations. Bringing the entire portfolio within the remit of a smaller team has facilitated closer control over procedures and processes, especially in the areas of print buying and scheduling. The product managers’ work isn’t entirely operational, however, as they work closely with the project managers on the development of new and existing products and services. The projects team was established to specialise in the analysis and development of new company initiatives, as well as advise and assist in the enhancement of existing products and services. To date work has been carried out on getalife.org.uk, Prospects Law, and developing relationships with key external bodies such as higher education institutions in the Republic of Ireland. Electronic services continue to play an important role in Graduate Prospects’ content provision. Over 370,000 students and graduates now receive Prospects electronic newsletters, and Prospects content is available on the Career Zone section of the NUS site. The design of the Prospects portfolio was reviewed in 2003 and a new template applied which has brought greater consistency to all publications. Student focus groups were conducted at Aberdeen and Nottingham and the findings were used to inform editorial and design approaches for 2003-2004. Our graphic designers have also produced original work for external bodies including the Learning and Teaching Support Network, the African and Caribbean Finance Forum, and UKGRAD. In January 2004, the advertising production department was merged with the e-commerce team to form a single ad processing department responsible for publications, web ads and processing advertisers’ messages to students and graduates. Content The content team produces original editorial material for all Prospects publications, parts of Prospects.ac.uk and e-mail services. It is responsible for graphic design in Prospects publications and for all advertising production and processing. 6 annual report - review of the year
Marketing: Julie Ingham, Head of Marketing Communications The work of the Marketing Communications department was dominated for much of the year by the decision to change the names of both the charity and trading company. (The charity changed from CSU to HECSU, and the trading company from CSU Ltd to Graduate Prospects Ltd.) The changeover had to be carefully planned and managed to ensure all our staff, customers and stakeholders knew what was happening and when, and importantly, understood the reasons behind the change. The department was involved in researching potential reaction to a change, testing potential names, developing a new brand identity for Graduate Prospects and managing the changeover in July 2003, which coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Prospects brand. Changing the names of the company and charity has proved beneficial, enabling us to link more closely the trading company to its main brand Prospects, and to communicate more clearly the relationship between the charity and trading company. As a result of the changeover, each has started to develop its own unique and now separate identity. In 2003, Graduate Prospects launched its third new brand since Prospects was created in the early 1990s and the NCWE was acquired in 2001. The concepts for the Public Sector Getalife brand were developed by Manchesterbased brand design agency Cheetham Bell JWT, who also created the Prospects and NCWE branding. They have created a fresh and dynamic identity which is helping to attract graduates to careers in the public sector. A first for Graduate Prospects was the launch of the inaugural NCWE awards event in May 2003, which recognised excellence in organisations that offer work experience placements to HE students. Over 45 companies entered the awards, which culminated in a lunch ceremony at the Mirabelle restaurant in London. The overall winner (from four categories) was George (ASDA). The second NCWE Awards will be held in May 2004. Our profile in the media continued to grow throughout 2003 and resulted in 544 press mentions across national, regional, trade and management media. The majority were generated through the issue of press releases covering diverse subjects such as What Do Graduates Do?, the launch of e-guidance chatrooms on Prospects.ac.uk, the results of research into the career expectations of final year students conducted by MORI, and the launch of getalife.org. The national press and the profile of the NCWE was considerably heightened through PR management and the proactive stance taken by NCWE director Liz Rhodes. During 2003, we commissioned MORI to conduct a second major piece of research with final year students to study their career planning behaviour. The results showed increasing numbers of students delaying their career search until after their final exams, and many had not visited their careers service by the mid-point of their final year (though many had engaged with their CAS in other ways). We will use these results to work with careers services to develop different communication strategies. Other highlights included sponsoring the Biennial AGCAS Conference, and exhibiting for the fourth year running at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development Exhibition. review of the year annual report - review of the year 7
Page 2 and 3: Mission statements forword HECSU’
Page 4 and 5: foreword forword I am delighted to
Page 6 and 7: chief executive’s statement forwo
Page 10 and 11: National Council for Work Experienc
Page 12 and 13: Information Development Department:
Page 14 and 15: E-Guidance Services: Lucy Madahar,
Page 16 and 17: Trustees report The trustees presen
Page 18 and 19: Auditors report Independent auditor
Page 20 and 21: Consolidated balance sheet at 31 Ja
Page 22 and 23: Reconciliation of net cash flow to
Page 24 and 25: 3 Net income from trading activitie
Page 26 and 27: 6 Staff numbers and costs The avera
Page 28 and 29: 11 Tangible fixed assets (continued
Page 30 and 31: 13 Stocks Group 2004 2003 £ £ Wor
Page 32 and 33: The assumptions used by the actuary
Page 34 and 35: Subscriber List subscriber list Uni
Page 36: HECSU Prospects House Booth Street

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