One year on: Driving impact through our Young Enterprise partnership

It's been one year since Foot Anstey launched its three-year strategic partnership with Young Enterprise, united by a shared ambition to improve social mobility and help more young people realise their potential.

The partnership forms a key part of our Responsible Business strategy and reflects our commitment to creating opportunities for young people in the communities where we live and work. Together, we're helping young people develop the skills, confidence and experiences they need to make informed decisions about their futures, whether through further education, employment or entrepreneurship.

Making an impact

In its first year, the partnership has helped hundreds of young people develop practical enterprise and employability skills through a range of programmes and experiences designed to prepare them for the world of work.

We've supported them in key areas including communication, teamwork, problem-solving, financial literacy and presenting ideas, while increasing their understanding of the opportunities available to them.

Over the past 12 months we:

• Helped 536 young people develop enterprise and employability skills.
• Connected 18 at-risk young people with housing services through our work with the Foyer Federation.
• Logged 141 volunteer hours contributed by 32 colleagues.
• Received 100% positive feedback from our Career Insight Day, with participants finding the sessions useful and relevant, describing our volunteers as inspiring.

Our partnership also extended into Northern Ireland through RISE (Readiness, Independence, Skills and Entrepreneurship), delivered by Young Enterprise Northern Ireland and supported by Foot Anstey's Belfast office. The partnership funded students from two of the seven Belfast schools taking part in the programme, which targets students at risk of exclusion, helping broaden their horizons and highlight the opportunities ahead of them.

Why this matters

Social mobility remains one of the UK's most significant challenges. Research funded by the firm and commissioned by Young Enterprise found that while young people recognise the value of entrepreneurial and enterprising skills, many still lack access to the opportunities, experiences and networks that can help them thrive.

The research found that:

• 81% of young people had already demonstrated entrepreneurial behaviours or experience.
• 79% viewed entrepreneurs positively.
• 76% believed enterprising skills could help improve social mobility.

These findings reinforce the importance of ensuring young people have access to the skills, confidence and support needed to pursue their ambitions, regardless of background.

Looking ahead

As we enter the second year of our partnership, our focus remains on helping more young people succeed in education, employment and beyond. Through long-term collaboration and shared purpose, we're proud to support Young Enterprises' mission. It's one of the many ways we're working to create positive change through our Responsible Business programme and make a meaningful difference in the communities we serve.