- New NatWest place-based Youth Offer aims to connect over 10,000 young people with early careers, work experience training and entrepreneurship opportunities over the next two years.
- Launching first in Manchester, NatWest will work with the Combined Authority to tailor support around the needs of the local community. A second pilot will follow with East Midlands Combined Authority.
- As the UK’s biggest bank for business, NatWest will use its relationships to help young people gain experience and build connections with local businesses and founders.
- Youth Offer includes access to new Young Founders Community providing support for budding young entrepreneurs across the UK.
NatWest Group has announced plans to help more than 10,000 young people take their next step towards employment, training or entrepreneurship, with a new place-based approach designed to create more opportunities closer to home.
The new NatWest Youth Offer will launch in January, with a pilot in Greater Manchester, working with the Combined Authority and local partners to respond to the opportunities and challenges facing young people across the region. A further pilot is in development with the East Midlands Combined Authority, with an aim to extend the offer across the UK.
The offer will include support at different stages, bringing together financial and future-skills education, work experience, early careers and entrepreneurship support. The ambition is to create clearer routes for young people from education and skills development into the world of work or starting a business.
Connecting young people with local opportunity
Using NatWest’s position as the UK’s biggest bank for business, the Youth Offer, will help young people build connections with employers and entrepreneurs in their own communities.
For example, NatWest works with more than 55,000 businesses and founders in Greater Manchester and through the pilot, it will work with its business customers alongside its own branches and its Spinningfields office to give young people greater exposure to different workplaces, sectors and career paths. Manchester businesses including manufacturers Polyflor, housebuilders NorthStone Homes, and hospitality firm Permanently Unique Restaurant Group, will be working with NatWest to help kickstart the work experience activity.
The first pilot will include:
- Workplace experience and insight: structured work experience and T Level placements across NatWest branches, offices and participating local business customers.
- Early careers opportunities: clearer local connections into NatWest apprenticeships, internships, graduate roles and other employment
- Entrepreneurship: Tailored support for young people seeking to build their own business, through the NatWest’s successful Accelerator network – including its Manchester hub.
Tailored to local communities
Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, NatWest will work with combined authorities and future local government partners to tailor activity to local priorities and connect young people with opportunities available in their area.
By combining local insight from combined authorities with NatWest’s national reach, longstanding local presence and extensive business network, the initial pilots will help shape the approach to build stronger connections between young people, employers, educators and entrepreneurs to create more visible routes into work and enterprise.
NatWest Group CEO Paul Thwaite was joined by The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden MP and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Mayor Bev Craig, as he set out the bank’s plans for the new Youth Offer, at its Manchester Accelerator hub. The event brought together local businesses, students, apprentices and young founders to discuss the opportunities and barriers young people face in moving into meaningful work.
NatWest Group CEO, Paul Thwaite, said: “Opportunities shouldn’t depend on where you live, and that’s why we want to use our national presence along with our longstanding business relationships to make it easier for young people to see and access more opportunities closer to home. Through our new Youth Offer, we want to work with partners across the UK to help young people build the skills, experience and connections they need to take their first step into the world of work.”
The Secretary of State gave a keynote address and spoke to young people in the room about the NatWest Youth Offer and how it will support them to find meaningful work. This new offer comes alongside the Government’s Youth Guarantee which is backed by a £2.5 billion investment into youth employment support, it highlighted how stronger connections between government, education and employers can create clearer routes into work, training and entrepreneurship.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden MP, said: "It's fantastic to see a leading employer like NatWest back the next generation.
"By providing support to budding entrepreneurs, this will give young people the confidence and connections to take their first step into work and to build a lasting career.
“That’s why we’re delivering on our wider Youth Guarantee offer to create nearly one million opportunities, backed by £2.5 billion, to give every young person the chance to have the best start in life.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Bev Craig, said: "Every young person in Greater Manchester should have a clear route from education into a rewarding career and employers have a vital role to play in making that happen.
"NatWest’s Youth Offer is a welcome investment in our young people, helping them explore opportunities, experience the workplace and take the next step towards a good job.”
Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, said: “I’m delighted that this pilot is coming to the East Midlands. It is a fantastic opportunity for the young people in our region and will help them to access the support, skills, and opportunities they need to fulfil their potential.
“Creating better opportunities for every young person is one of my main focuses as Mayor. This pilot will help us turn that commitment into action, working with partners across the region to give young people the best possible start and build a stronger future for the East Midlands.”
Supporting the next generation of founders
The NatWest Youth Offer will also include the creation of a new Young Founders Community for 18 to 25-year-olds who want to explore entrepreneurship or develop and scale an existing business idea. Launching nationwide in January, the community builds on NatWest’s existing network of 18 Accelerators across the UK and its growing partnerships with universities, including Manchester.
Recent NatWest research found that 42% of teenagers are interested in starting a business or side hustle, motivated by a desire for greater control over their future. Through the community, young people will be able to connect with other entrepreneurs and access mentors, specialist support, learning opportunities and partner benefits. Support will be available both through in-person activity at the hubs and digitally through the Accelerator App.
Notes to editors:
- NatWest worked closely with social enterprise The Growth Company ahead of the launch to align the Youth Offer with Greater Manchester's delivery of T Levels and wider work placements, ensuring that young people can access meaningful workplace experiences through real business projects, work experience opportunities and broader careers engagement initiatives.
Forward-looking statements: The figures referenced in this release (including the aim to connect over 10,000 young people with opportunities) are ambitions over a two-year period, not guarantees of individual outcomes such as training places or employment. Actual numbers reached, the pace of roll-out, and geographical coverage will depend on local demand, partner capacity and programme development, and may differ from current estimates.
