Employability programme run by The King’s Trust and Marks & Spencer

Marks and Start, the scheme run for Marks & Spencer in conjunction with The King’s Trust, is one of the more impressive employability programmes the Jobs Foundation has seen in its travels across the country over the past few months. This visit was part of the research for our best practice report, which will be launched in September. The programme has been running for over 20 years and has taken thousands and thousands of young people out of unemployment and poverty and into a job. 

We visited what is known as the “Celebration Day” – an event for those who have made it successfully through the programme (which in any cohort, will be around 90% of those who walked in on day one, a phenomenal retention rate) – held at one of Marks & Spencer’s flagship locations, the Pantheon on Oxford Street, London. This celebration occurs at the end of an intensive four-week employability programme where recruits are put into the job (supported all the way by ‘buddies’) to see how they get on. 

It was an emotional event for a lot of the young people who had come through the few weeks on the programme. Clear were the friendship made quickly, scattered across the room. One young woman was so overcome, she began crying as she got up to speak. One young man told of how he was “close to giving up” before he found his way onto the programme. How a long period of rejection from every possible place of employment had left him wondering what life held for him. Marks and Start seems to have given him a new lease on his own future.

Yakob is a young man who had struggled with unemployment for some time, as well as mental health issues, before finding himself on the programme. We asked him about his experience over the prior weeks.

“I’ve enjoyed the program. It’s been very educational for me. It’s been helping me build relationships with new people and encouraged my confidence to speak to new people and new customers. I did struggle with my anxiety a lot, so I think with this course it helped me a lot to feel like myself up and talk to people.”

Yakob had gone through an immensely tough time a few years prior – he had fallen into a deep depression after a close friend his age had died. He said that for a while, he “didn’t really find enjoyability in anything”. He said that the programme had done wonders for his confidence and outlook. Participants on the programme receive substantial wrap around care to build their confidence, protect their wellbeing and develop their skill set – this is something that makes Marks and Start so unique.

As it happens, Yakob wasn’t going to be starting work at Marks & Spencer the following week like the friends he had made on the programme would be – he had gone for an interview at the London Zoo and been hired. This is what is special about courses like Marks and Start – they don’t just feed the company that the programme is built to provide for, it helps the whole ecosystem of young people trying to find meaningful employment.

Tyrell is a great example of someone who went on the programme and not only stayed at Marks & Spencer but is still with the company now in an executive position. He’s an Academy Customer Assistant for the London region, helping co-ordinate between programmes to ensure everything runs smoothly. He’s been with M&S for ten years now and acts as a real ambassador for the scheme helping to inspire the next generation of young participants.

‘At the time I was doing nothing. I worked in the Co-op for a little while. The Jobcentre gave me a couple of opportunities. But Marks and Start really did change my life. I can’t imagine having not gone on the course.’

The programme we witnessed the end of was run by Eleanor, who is an Academy Manager at Marks & Spencer, and Aiobh, who is a Youth Development Lead at The King’s Trust. How it works in terms of recruitment is that The King’s Trust will have a group of young people (between 16 and 30) who they will select as being good candidates for Marks and Start. The first day is an induction day but from there, the young people will either go straight onto the retail floor or into the hospitality section. Marks and Start allows candidates to thrive in the store setting – they don’t use an online assessment or a formal interview process, something which trips many young people up. Candidates just need to show drive, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn – then they’re likely to secure a space on the work experience programme.

During our research for the best practice report, we have seen many ways of recruiting young people, particularly from the most socio-economically deprived backgrounds. The important thing is that they understand that hiring people in the 16- to 30-year-old range often requires creative solutions. The key is that young people, particularly from socio-economically deprived backgrounds, are being hired – and most of them retained as colleagues. Here’s to the future – and employability programmes like Marks and Start.