The 60’s
Young Enterprise was founded in the 1962/3 academic year by the late Sir Walter Salomon, based on the Junior Achievement model, which had been running in America since 1919. The Company Programme reached 113 young people who formed the first eight Young Enterprise companies. 1967 saw the first written Young Enterprise Examination. The aim of the Company Programme was – and still is – to enable young people to develop skills and knowledge for business and enterprise through setting up and running their own company with the support of representatives from the business community.
The 70’s
By 1973/4, there were twenty-two Area Boards across the UK. With the increase in the number of Area Boards, more local and regional Trade Fairs were planned. Still an important part of Young Enterprise Company trading, these give Young Enterprise Students a showcase from which to sell their products to the general public, whilst competing with other Young Enterprise companies.
The European Federation of Young Enterprise was established in 1977, with the UK, France and Belgium as the founding members. Its purpose was to organise an annual European Congress where the young entrepreneurs could sell their goods and share experiences. This federation became “Junior Achievement/ Young Enterprise Europe” in 2002.
The 80’s
In 1981 the Young Enterprise UK Company Competition began to take on the form it has today. Young Enterprise companies submitted their reports to a panel of judges, who selected the best report from each of the Young Enterprise Regions. The six regional winners were invited to attend the National Finals in London. Companies delivered a verbal presentation to the judges, using the skills they had acquired.
In 1988 Midland Bank (now HSBC Bank plc) took on the Chairmanship of Young Enterprise which continues to this day.
By the end of the 1980s, Young Enterprise had recognised the need to offer an alternative approach to the Company Programme to meet the needs of students who had difficulties with learning, and/or had disabilities. This resulted in the launch of Team Programme.
The 90’s
In 1990 Young Enterprise was exploring a strategy of decentralising the organisation. Plans were drawn up for Young Enterprise Scotland to become an independent charity operating under licence to the UK organisation and on 26th August 1991, YES was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee
In August 1997, furthering the decentralisation strategy, Young Enterprise Northern Ireland was formed, operating under licence to Young Enterprise UK.
As part of the decentralisation strategy, Young Enterprise Wales became an independent charity in October 1999, operating under licence from Young Enterprise UK.
Project Business was launched in 1995. Based on the Junior Achievement Economics and Industrial Awareness Programme and now run over six one-hour sessions, presented in-curriculum by a volunteer from Business. The programme is designed to give students a practical, activity based insight into economic and business life.
In 1997 the Innovation Unit at the Department of Trade & Industry joined Midland Bank (now HSBC Bank plc) in supporting the UK finals of the "Young Enterprise Company Competition". The competition criteria was revised to reflect innovation in Young Enterprise company activity. The competition now runs through Area, Strategic and Regional Board levels before twelve UK finalists, representing the nine regions of England, plus Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, reach the "HSBC Young Enterprise Innovation Awards".
1997/8 saw the pilot of a new extension to Company Programme – “International Trading”. This offered Young Enterprise students the opportunity to link and partner with Young Enterprise and Junior Achievement students overseas to exchange ideas and experiences, and ultimately to trade. In 1998/9, the renamed “International Links” was launched nationally on a web site involving 130 schools in its first year.
Another pilot run in the 1997/8 academic year was for a fourth Young Enterprise Programme – the Entrepreneurship Masterclass. Now adopted as a mainstream programme, the masterclass is a seminar that challenges students to think about starting their own business, providing them with information and advice to assist them in getting started.
A fifth Young Enterprise UK programme began its pilot in the 1998/9 academic year under the name Graduate Enterprise. Now running as the “Graduate Programme” this offers undergraduate University students the opportunity and support to set up and run their own company, gaining an understanding of the potential of SMEs as employers and considering business creation as an option for the future.
The 00’s
In March 2000 Young Enterprise marked the millennium year with a co-ordination of more than 1000 Young Enterprise Trade Fairs held on the same weekend throughout the UK. The millennium celebrations continued as the wining company from the HSBC Young Enterprise Innovation Awards 2000, “Incepto” from Queen Elizabeth’s Boys School in Barnet, went on to win the Young Enterprise Europe Company of the Year Competition in Germany.
The 2000/1 year also saw the UK pilot of the sixth Young Enterprise Programme. First run in Northern Ireland in 1998/9, the Primary Programme pilot launched Young Enterprise into the Primary School age range with a series of six modules using hands-on activities to help children to better understand the relevance of their education to the workplace.
By the end of the 2001/2 academic year Young Enterprise was reaching more than 105,000 young people annually, turning in an astonishing 40% growth year on year.
In March 2002 we welcomed Young Enterprise Europe to the UK as hosts of the Young Enterprise Europe Trade Fair at the MetroCentre.
The 2002/3 year saw the final stages of putting in place Young Enterprise’s fully Regionalised structure. From 1st August 2003, Young Enterprise evolved into 12 autonomous Regional organisations. Each Regional Chairman took up a seat on the UK Board alongside representatives of key corporate supporters
The 2003/4 academic year began with the launch of a weekly Young Enterprise column in the Business section of The Times.
2003/4 also saw the launch of two new Young Enterprise programmes. Learn to Earn which is designed to give 13-15 year old students an activity-based introduction into the relationship between learning and the attainment of goals, helping them to understand the relevance of education to their future working lives. Enterprise in Action uses web site simulations, games and activities to help students develop enterprise skills through the challenge of thinking-up, designing, planning, building and promoting a prototype product model.
Also in 2003/4, Young Enterprise continued a research programme that began with the 40th Anniversary to trace past students of the Company and Team Programmes. During the year a prototype web site was created and piloted, heralding the start of the Young Enterprise Alumni programme.
By the Summer term of 2005, the North West regional pilot of Personal Economics had resulted in the development of Young Enterprise’s ninth UK programme. This programme is designed to give 12-15 year old students a hands-on, practical introduction to personal finance, credit & debt, savings and investments and budgeting.
In November 2005, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown announced, that Pathfinder Enterprise Summer Schools would be set up across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and that Young Enterprise would lead the initiative. The New Year brought a new face to Young Enterprise UK – Sir Michael Savory joined the organisation as UK Chief Executive.
Throughout the summer of 2006 Young Enterprise ran 23 pilot Enterprise Summer Schools each of which focused on the development of attitudes and qualities for enterprise. Each of the pilot Enterprise Summer Schools were based on five core models, comprising a mix of residential and non-residential options which have been devised by Young Enterprise in order to test out different delivery approaches. Each school was evaluated by Oxford University who will identify best practice and advise the Government on a potential national rollout in 2007.
Research into what Young Enterprise Company Programme Alumni are doing now was undertaken by independent researchers FreshMinds in 2008 and it produced astounding results. Findings showed that Young Enterprise Company Programme Alumni earn more, enjoy their jobs more and are more likely to be running their own businesses than their non-Young Enterprise peers. To download the whole report click here.
In September 2008 the new QuickStart Music programme launched, which can support teachers to deliver the new Diploma in Creative and Media. QuickStart Music gives students aged 12-15 the experience of setting up and running their own mini music enterprise. Working in teams students take on the full spectrum of music industry functions to put on a music event or produce and sell a music product and are guided through the 10-week course by a volunteer adviser from the music industry.
September 2008 also saw the Your School Your Business programme pilot in secondary schools. The Programme is a hands-on transition activity for students entering secondary school, introducing school as a business and encouraging students to appreciate their role in secondary school.
The new Company Programme website which offers a fantastic suite of business tools and guidance materials for students also launched in September 2008. Students can create a company profile, see what other YE companies are up to, share their successes via a blog, collaborate online with other company members via a series of tools and even download a virtual office space! Visit the site by clicking here to check it out.
