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British Aerospace is planning to lure top engineering graduates from an elite group of universities by offering them much higher starting salaries.

A spokesman for BAe said the firm had been forced to launch the scheme because of "a shortage of suitably qualified graduates". Under the initiative, a small number of top graduates from leading engineering and science institutions, including Cambridge and Imperial College, London, will be offered starting salaries of around Pounds 21,000. This compares with the average of Pounds 14,000 being offered by the company to its graduate recruits.