Dear All, the placement above is for a student intern - apologies this is not clear in the advert which was an administrative error. I will correct today. Due to that fact that the advert has not been clear if we receive applications from other people and actually recruit a graduate or anyone else they would of course be paid the minimum wage for the position as per the governments’ clear directions - as pointed out by r0x0r.wolfo As for the comments about 'designing, testing and maintaining their safety gear only £500 a month' obviously the intern will be 100% supervised and will only be assisting in the maintenance of these systems as part of the design team. We will be hoping to recruit someone who is working towards a degree and who is a competent and diligent worker who we will hope to train up to a level so that once they leave they have experience of safety critical systems. They will be learning and assisting not directing will never be left to their own devices or be put in a situation where they are in charge of any safety critical activity. As for the point of it being cheap labour and morally questionable we would point out that this placement is not a necessity for Wild Country but an addition to our team to try and give someone an opportunity to work as part of their degree in an environment which will aid their future development. There are very few opportunities in our industry - because there are very few outdoor companies - and we are trying to provide one. Our second design intern Chris Bottomley who has read this thread made the following comment: “I am currently in my third year at university and I am coming to the end of a one year placement with one year to go on my course. In my opinion the last year has been invaluable for me to gain industry experience, to be part of the design process and to work in the ‘real world’. It has been amazing to have had some of my works and ideas make an impact on climbing via the work I have participated in at Wild Country. Finally there were many companies to whom I wrote who didn’t even bother responding - Wild Country not only responded but have a given me a chance for which I am very grateful.” Wild Country have offered internships, and will continue to do so, to help to give people experience of work. We have had interns in various parts of the company from across of Europe and everyone who has worked for us has reported that their experience was positive.

It makes much more sense as a student's industry year. Yes the advert was misleading, thanks for clearing this up.