New initiative will help small businesses open doors for the next generation
- ciaranofathaigh
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Keystone aims to fund and facilitate SMEs to provide work experience placements through co-working or "Flex" spaces, starting with Blue Garage.
Developed by Renegade Production in partnership with Blue Garage and Christ The King Sixth Forms, Keystone is a new employer engagement and opportunity initiative designed to enable and support small businesses, startups, freelancers and entrepreneurs provide structured work experience opportunities for young people.
The challenge is significant.
According to the UK Government's latest Business Population Estimates, there are approximately 5.64 million small businesses with fewer than 50 employees in the UK, representing more than 99% of all private sector businesses. 98% of businesses in the UK have fewer than 10 employees and around 75% have no employees beyond the owner themselves. The vast majority of businesses simply can't offer meaningful work experience placements.
It's no surprise that schools and colleges find it increasingly difficult to secure high-quality workplace experiences for students, creating a growing disconnect between education and the realities of modern working life.
Most existing solutions are built around one of two assumptions:
1) The school, college or student should solve the problem (careers teams, placement coordinators, pupils trying to source placements themselves)
2) The employer should solve the problem (find the time, space, structure, supervision and resources to host students)
Neither assumption reflects the reality of the modern economy.
The challenge isn't a lack of willing employers.
The challenge is that the UK economy is overwhelmingly made up of micro-businesses, freelancers, startups and SMEs that simply don't have the capacity to participate without support.
That's the problem Keystone is solving.
This initiative amis to provide the coordination, facilitation and, crucially, the funding support needed to help small businesses and startups engage young people in structured, meaningful ways.
Beyond supporting SMEs and students, Keystone also aims to strengthen local talent pipelines, enable entrepreneurship and help ensure that the opportunities created by economic growth and regeneration are accessible to local communities.
Keystone's founding partners believe that no young person's future should be determined by who they know, and that access to opportunity should not be limited by the size of the business community around them.
By making employer engagement achievable for the businesses that make up the vast majority of the UK economy, Keystone hopes to create a model that can be replicated across Lewisham, London and beyond.
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