ACCESS Generation is a new social enterprise that will provide free practical guidance to businesses to help them make the workplace more accessible for inexperienced young people.

They will be conducting research with large companies who are already successfully attracting young people to identify what works well and sharing this information with small and medium enterprises that may lack the resource required to take young people into their businesses.

Chris Tarry, founder of Access Generation, has previously run graduate and award-winning apprenticeship schemes and wants to encourage other businesses to do the same.

He said: “After witnessing my daughter struggling to find meaningful work after graduating and desperate to gain experience she was driven to work in unpaid internships. My son left college and struggled to find work without experience and found himself working on a zero hour contract. I knew I wanted to follow my passion to make the workplace more accessible for young people who have the right attitudes but are excluded because of their lack of experience. This is a catch 22 situation that many young people face.”

1 in 5 young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training.*

Mr Tarry said: “With close to a million 16-25 year-olds available to work each year it’s paramount that companies understand what young people are looking for in the workplace and how to attract them.

“When I first got involved I found that there’s a lot of jargon and confusing information out there for businesses looking to understand the options available to them when considering the recruitment of young people. Many companies just do not have the resource to take on the initial investment in time and effort required and therefore miss out on what I believe to be a real opportunity to access young talent. Our aim is to give businesses simple, easy to understand and practical advice (based on the experience of others) on the options that might best suit their needs.”

To help sustain and fund their work, Access Generation also provides consulting services to companies who need support.

They specialise in helping companies reach their target audience using digital solutions, creative campaigns and effective communications to attract talent. In addition, they can design and build graduate, apprenticeship and fast-track schemes or alternatively support internal resource at any stage during this process.

All profits will be reinvested into their work to help them achieve their goal of encouraging and supporting businesses to employ 500 inexperienced young people over the next three years. Support is delivered freely through their website for companies who may not have the budget or the appetite for paid consultancy.  

If you would like to know more, contribute to their research or collaborate with Access Generation visit www.accessgeneration.co.uk to find out more.

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Chris Tarry has more than 14 years’ experience as a senior manager in the financial industry with Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions. As well as 6 years running his own training consultancy business.

Chris has been joined, prior to the formation of the company, by Jemma Redden, a former journalist and marketing communications specialist. Jemma has experience in the leasing industry and with charitable organisations. She is also passionate about working with an organisation that has a positive impact on people’s lives.

What is a social enterprise? Social enterprises trade to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances, or the environment. They make their money from selling goods and services in the open market, but they reinvest their profits back into the business or the local community. Source: Social Enterprise UK

*Source: National Office of Statistics