Professor Lynn Martin, President of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, is set to meet with HRH The Prince of Wales and a select group of other colleagues involved in promoting entrepreneurship at Clarence House in London.
”Our membership shows great interest in business start up, whether from a research or business support perspective. This is a fascinating and impressive initiative targeting an ignored group within our society who have a great deal to offer” Lynn explained. “Given our track record at ISBE for thoroughly engaging with the development of business by different groups in society, this is particularly welcome and we feel we have key ideas to aid the extension of PRIME over the next decade.”
There are over 4,000,000 people in the UK over the age of 50 who are out of work and many more now worrying about redundancy. Long-term unemployment continues to hit the over 50s harder and over the past two years it is estimated that unemployment for this group has increased by over 40 per cent, with 61 per cent having been out of work for 6 months or more. Full time employment opportunities for this demographic are notably scarce.
PRIME works with this valuable group of people (who are often from disadvantaged backgrounds and have been unemployed for more than six months) to help them to set up their own enterprises and become more self-reliant and financially independent. Despite limited resources, PRIME has developed a strong brand in its market and has achieved considerable success, with support for 850 new enterprises last year and a target of 7,000 sustainable businesses created in the next 10 years.
PRIME champions business creation by the over 50s entrepreneur by not only shaping the environment by informing and developing public policy, but also through the delivery of mentoring, business advice and support, inspirational events and quality training products and services to support enterprise.
