Graduate recruitment topped the agenda at last night’s Recruitment Society event in London.

The audience of nearly 100 recruiting and resourcing professionals heard presentations from the McLaren Group on its graduate leadership programme and the latest Graduate Recruitment Survey from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).

Patrick Bermingham, group HR director of McLaren, and career management and specialist graduate recruitment consultant Shiona Llewellyn explained McLaren’s programme of finding not only the crème de la crème of engineering talent but also creating a leadership talent pipeline for the future.

“We want to find engineers of the future who are fully aligned with the values of the McLaren brand. We want not just the best, but the best fit,” Bermingham said.

Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the AGR, also echoed that sentiment. “Maintaining a talent pipeline is a priority for businesses. By firms not taking on graduates, there is a growing concern that companies are sitting on an attrition time-bomb.”

• For more news on the event, see Recruiter, 31 March.