UK’s top companies looking to get involved in ‘Business Class’
22 Jul 2013
Prudential hosted a breakfast event on the 18 July to talk about their involvement in BiTC’s ‘Business Class’ programme and encourage other employers to get involved. Delegates from companies such as Kingfisher, the Met Office, Deloitte LLP, M&S and Shell UK heard how the programme creates long-term strategic partnerships between schools and businesses for mutual benefit.
Business Class, which pairs up leading businesses with schools in some of the UK’s most deprived areas, is to create 135 new partnerships in 27 new areas following a £2.4 million investment from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
Hosting the event, Tulsi Naidu, Operations Director of Prudential said Business Class has some key features that make it unique and more impactful than other similar schemes. She said:
“We knew our local schools and had worked with them for 20 years but we were not working systematically to change outcomes for the school.”
Sir Paul Grant, Head teacher at Robert Clack School spoke about the value of the programme to his school, describing Business Class as “a sincere, true partnership that is not dependant on one enthusiastic person but is based on a long term commitment from the management of the school and the business.”
David Fairhust, UKCES commissioner and Chief People Officer of McDonald’s Europe talked about the “death of the Saturday job” and the lack of opportunities that employers offer young people to access the workplace. He said more businesses need to think in a modern way about the opportunities they can provide young people to better prepare them for their working lives.
With nearly one million young people in the country not in education, employment or training and 1.8 million children growing up in workless households, the need for business and school partnerships is greater than ever.
You can read more about BiTC and the Business Class programme here.
