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Newsroom & speeches
04 November 2004
I am delighted to be here today to thank you, your Royal Highness; and to celebrate with you 21 years of the Prince’s Trust Business Programme that was a new programme:
In 1983 two great British ideas rediscovered from our history - central to our successes in the 19th and 20th century industrial revolution years - came together in the Prince’s Trust Business Programme.
The first was enterprise: the idea that if given the chance the British people are creative, dynamic, full of ideas, adventurous and entrepreneurial.
And the second was service: that civic duty, compassion and the obligation to serve others are at the heart of the British character.
And by bringing these two great British virtues together - both qualities too often neglected before we had the Prince’s Trust Business Programme, both qualities vital to a successful future - change happened in our country.
The first governing idea - that to harness the talents of all young people, enterprise should be open to all - is helping us rediscover the great tradition of British entrepreneurship, invention and creativity from Arkwright, Watt, George Stephenson, Faraday and Babbage to Sir John Sulston and Tim Berners Lee with the human genome project and the internet.
And the Prince’s Trust Business Programme demonstrates that even if young people used to think of enterprise as for someone else - perhaps thought that the opportunity to start a business, to become self-employed, to make their ideas happen, was, somehow, not for them - more young people from all backgrounds, rich and poor, rural and urban, are now considering realising their talents in commerce and business.
The 3000 businesses that now start each week in Britain and the fastest increases in self employment in our history are in no small measure due to the inspiration of the Prince’s Trust and the men and women who have benefited from the Trust.
And entrepreneurial attitudes are changing fast. In 2001 just 18 per cent believed there were good start up opportunities in business. Now benefiting from new incentives for start ups especially in deprived areas, it is 40 per cent. In 2001 40 per cent of young people believed they had the skills to start up a business. Today the figure is 54 per cent.
But we know also how much more we have to do to catch up with the USA where twice as many young people consider starting a new business compared to Britain. Indeed today Britain would have 1.8 million more businessmen and women if we had the same proportion of people starting a business as the United States.
And so we are only at the beginning of the enterprise renaissance – and long term transformation in cultural attitudes to enterprise - our country needs. I want a Britain where there is a vibrant spirit of enterprise in every region of the country. So at every stage - whether for companies starting up, investing, hiring, training, seeking equity, exporting - our aim must be to be on businesses’ side, working to remove all the old barriers holding the enterprising back.
We know it starts in the classroom. But, despite all our advances, only half of school pupils are currently benefiting from enterprise education with less than 1 per cent of college or university students engaged in entrepreneurial activity. So from next year each school will be able to offer every pupil not just work experience but 5 days of enterprise education too. A new National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship is encouraging students to think seriously about starting a business. And the first ever national Enterprise Week later this month – in which the Prince’s Trust is a key partner with the theme ‘Make Your Mark’ to encourage, inspire and excite young people about enterprise - will aim to give those with ideas and ambition the confidence and know-how to start up their own businesses.
In the first visit since the election of a member of President Bush’s administration, the US Treasury Secretary John Snow - who will be visiting Britain on November 16th - and I will be discussing developing a new transatlantic enterprise partnership so that through exchanges, the sharing of experience and a new enterprise summit between our new countries we can build a stronger enterprise culture.
And in the forthcoming Pre Budget Report I will bring forward proposals to help encourage this long term cultural change our country needs.
The second very British idea the Prince’s Trust is built upon is that of duty – the willingness of successful members of our community to give of their time to help young people realise their potential.
My father used to cite to me the famous words of Martin Luther King – ‘all of us can be great because all of us can serve’. And this commitment to service to the community at the heart of the ethos of the Prince’s Trust is the key to the success of the business programme.
Established businessmen and women like so many of you here helping to enthuse young people.
Convincing them that they really can go into business.
Advising as they take their ideas forward.
Listening to their problems.
Supporting them through setbacks.
Giving honest feedback.
Building confidence.
Reassuring them.
Providing expert practical support.
I think of Jesse Peters who received mentoring advice from Peter Holmes, Director of Merrill Lynch International, and now runs Haringey Warriors Youth Organisation - a basketball club that is changing the lives of scores of disadvantaged young people.
Or I think of Emma Williams whose mentor Carla Martinho provided invaluable support as she set up her ceramics firm, including introducing her to new business contacts.
And there are so many hundreds more. And because of your incredible success as an organisation 96 per cent of young people in your programme are still self employed or in alternative employment, education or training after twelve months.
And because the Prince’s Trust is always thinking of the future and has never dwelt on the past, you are using your inherent advantages and expertise – your unique, local, on the ground, person to person approach - to look now at what more can be done to engage the hardest to help who need more intensive support and motivation.
That is why you are expanding your XL Programme which addresses barriers to employment amongst school pupils and engages them in enterprise activity.
Why you are focusing on those sectors most likely to engage disaffected young people like creative industries and sport.
Why in our high unemployment and inner city communities you are improving links with employers and social enterprises which can not only provide work experience placements but also tackle social and economic problems in the surrounding area.
And today we mark the extension of the partnership between the Trust and Royal Bank of Scotland with another £5 million pounds committed by RBS today to launch your new Enterprise Works programme - providing paid work experience placements and intensive mentoring to help some of our most disadvantaged young people develop the skills and confidence to consider starting up a business of their own. And I look forward to seeing the results of this innovative new programme as it develops.
There are many ways of celebrating a birthday. But the most lasting celebration is to do as you are doing - setting out the next challenges ahead and rededicating yourselves to the mission set out by the Prince of Wales so eloquently at the start of this programme in 1983.
Rededicating ourselves to bringing out the potential for enterprise and achievement of so many of our young by deepening the commitment to public service of so many of our business leaders.
And as a result making Britain a stronger, more successful more cohesive country that makes us proud to be British.
