Small businesses are being asked to pledge 50,000 work experience placements for 14 to 16-year-olds under a government-backed campaign launching tomorrow, as part of a national drive to create 200,000 additional placements.
The campaign, Open Your Door, is led by Small Business Britain and supported by organisations including the Careers & Enterprise Company, Enterprise Nation and the British Chambers of Commerce. It forms part of the government’s National Mission on Work Experience.
Firms taking part will be able to access toolkits, practical expert advice and help with finding suitable candidates. According to the campaign, businesses do not need a large HR team or an established work experience programme to take part.
The National Mission on Work Experience was launched by the government in September with the aim of creating an additional 200,000 placements for young people. Open Your Door is seeking pledges from small businesses for a quarter of that total.
Shorter placements across several firms
Under the scheme, pupils in years 10 and 11 can use their work experience days flexibly, visiting different companies and taking shorter placements than a traditional two-week spot.
The campaign said this means a young person could spend five days across several local businesses, for example a café and an accountant, followed by a retailer and a digital marketing agency. It said the model reduces the time commitment on any one company while giving young people a broader taste of the world of work.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “Too many young people have been written off before they’ve even had the chance to get started. We’re determined to change that.
“Small businesses are at the heart of communities and high streets across the country, so I want as many as possible to get behind Open Your Door. You don’t need a big HR department to play your part and support is out there to help you.”
Michelle Ovens CBE, chief executive and founder of Small Business Britain, said: “Traditional work experience schemes have often focused on larger scale organisations with the headcount and teams to handle the necessary complexities, but you shouldn’t have to have a whole HR team to take on a motivated and enthusiastic young person for a few days.”
She added: “Work experience in small companies helps young people to assess their interests and give back locally, and we want small businesses to feel empowered and supported to take on a placement.”
The campaign comes as the government steps up efforts to help more young people into education, training and work, ahead of Alan Milburn’s review into young people and work.
Milburn’s interim report, published by the Department for Work and Pensions in May, examined the rise in the number of young people not in education, employment or training. Research carried out for the review, reported by Business Matters in September, found that 40 per cent of employers surveyed named work experience as a barrier to hiring young people.
Office for National Statistics figures earlier this year put the number of 16 to 24-year-olds in that category at about 957,000 in October to December 2025.
Small business owners quoted by the campaign described their own placements. Marie Cavanagh of Fired Works Glass Gallery and Studio, who offers work experience every year to her local senior school, said: “I find it really beneficial to both myself and the students – young people come with a wealth of ideas and creativity and I often use them to come up with new designs for my glass decorations.”
Sinead Ryan of family-run embroidery and print company SpeedStitch said the business had subsequently hired some students as seasonal staff. “We have always tried to offer a varied and hands-on placement so they can get a real experience of everyday life in a small, family business,” she said.
Danielle McKinnon of equine sanctuary Eat Sleep Ride said young people on placement work outdoors with horses, chickens and the garden. “We give them real responsibility and the chance to lead, and we actively look for opportunities that fit each person’s interests,” she said, adding that many go on to do paid work with the sanctuary.
