By focusing their job search almost exclusively on the London area, graduates could be missing out on better job opportunities with regional employers, according to research by graduate recruitment website GradFutures.com.

The vast majority (91%) of graduates are looking for work in London, and a third (31%) are jobseeking in the South-East, according to the study among students and recent graduates.

Demetrios Zoppos, director at GradFutures.com, says: “London has always had the most competitive graduate job market thanks to the sheer number of applicants for the capital’s positions. This situation has only worsened as a result of the recession.

“By simply focusing on London, graduates close the door to opportunities at the huge number of firms of all sizes that don’t operate in the capital.

“As things stand, regional employers are only accessing around one in 10 of the total graduate population.”

He says there is a big opportunity for employers outside of London to improve their graduate ‘gene pool’, by getting in front of the country’s best graduates at exactly the right time with an attractive offering.

“Reward budgets are tight, but recruiters can tempt graduates away from London by meeting their desire for varied and challenging work and offering clear career progression with structured training.”