Tech firm pledges £1m to clear 'heartbreaking' student debt

'I hope other tech firms copy us,' company CEO tells CRN as he takes on UK's spiralling student debt

Hosting firm UKFast is challenging the UK's graduate debt issue by committing a £1m "GradCash" fund to pay off student loans for graduate recruits.

Those joining the firm's graduate scheme have the opportunity to have £2,000 paid off their student loan in the first two years of employment.

A contested political issue which took centre stage in this year's snap general election, current graduates face £9,000 per year in tuition fees.

Lawrence Jones, UKFast CEO, told CRN that the scheme aligns with the Manchester-based firm's plan to take on 500 graduates over the next five years.

"This is showing graduates that we believe in them. If you are coming out of university, you are faced with many options: 'where do I go?, 'which city do I join?', 'what industry do I go into?'," he said.

"The debts that students face is just heartbreaking and I didn't realise how bad it was until I spoke to more students. Talking to those students, it was blindingly obvious immediately that they were coming out of university with way too much responsibility on their shoulders."

Jones said the debt is a "negative burden" for these graduates as they come into the working world.

"It is just not right, so we are doing something about it. And these are the types of initiatives that I hope are copied," he said.

"A lot of businesses, including Microsoft, go out and copy our initiatives. The tech industry is one where ideas get copied. Let's see if people put their money where their mouth is like we have.

"We are only a small business; hopefully some of the bigger businesses will say 'we'll pay off all your student debt'. It is not right in a civilised society that we are paying for education."