Digital broadcasting developer Tandberg Television, is supporting a local education initiative by working with the University of Southampton's Summer School.

The school is part of the Government's Excellence in Cities initiative and aims to help gifted children in inner city areas achieve their full potential. The scheme focuses upon 15- and 16-year-old students who are judged to have a high ability, but whose background is such that they might not consider applying for higher education.

"Teenagers in inner-city areas are under-represented and we wanted to give them an opportunity to show what university has to offer," says Dion Battersby from Southampton University. "These students are interested in pursuing a course in engineering or science, so we asked Tandberg at Hedge End for support and they were happy to oblige. Having an innovative company at the cutting edge of technology operating right on our doorstep opens so many fantastic opportunities for the students in the area."

The nine students from all over the country were taken around Tandberg Television's site at Hedge End. They were given an introduction to the company and its operations as well as an overview of digital television technology.

Karen Aldous, HR advisor said: "Hopefully it will encourage the students to go to university to pursue a career in technology. We thought this would be a fantastic chance to support the local university and show young people that exciting career opportunities exist in real businesses."