Next Top Boss plans to launch 1000 careers
9 December 2009
• 20 organisations
including top business brands join in X factor style
competition
• Helping 1,000 young people get onto the career
ladder and boost their skills
• Launched in Thurrock at the heart of the Thames
Gateway and close to Olympic area
A new competition launched today and
backed by top business brands, colleges and government will see
1,000 young people get their careers off to a flying start.
Inspired by reality shows like the X Factor and the Apprentice, the
competition will open the doors of the working world to young
people as they compete to become business leaders of the
future.
Based in Thurrock, at the heart of the
Thames Gateway, the project brings together some of the UK’s top
brands – from Unilever and Procter & Gamble to Lakeside retail
centre, the Royal Opera House and the RSPB – which are all linked
to the region.
The competition will see these big
names and hundreds of teams of young people rolling up their
sleeves to work together through a range of real life
challenges.
Thurrock hopes to provide a model for
the rest of the UK with its radical move to grow local skills,
business and the economy.
The competition will challenge teams
of young people to solve real business problems – with winning
teams getting career packages from the companies behind Next Top
Boss. The goal is to help young people get ready for work, while
showing the rest of the world how big businesses can come together
to achieve real results.
Competitors will work in teams with
real companies making contacts, researching, shaping and solving
real life business challenges and proving they have what it takes
to be the next generation of leaders. In return they
will get access to world-class
organisations, mentors and support as they negotiate the challenges
which will all have a community or environmental theme.
Entrants can look forward to perks
like an interview makeover at Lakeside and the ultimate goal of a
serious package of opportunities from coaching and mentoring to
placements at the sponsoring companies.
Shahid Malik, Thames Gateway
Minister, welcomed the project and said:
“This project demonstrates the
energy and dynamism of the economy we are building in the Thames
Gateway – from the Royal Opera House Production Park
to the sustainable industries park at Dagenham, Thurrock is an
example of how the industrial heritage of the UK can be – and is
being – reinvented for the 21st century.
"Young people with the right
skills are the future of the Gateway and the UK. A project like
this can have a transforming effect on a generation of young
people, raising aspirations and building vocational skills. By
uniting the public, private and third sector around a very
immediate and tangible project, Next Top Boss will I believe,
deliver real results in Thurrock but also provide a model for what
other boroughs and regions could do.”
The youth sponsor for Next Top
Boss and Gold medal winning Paralympian, Danny Crates
said:
“While we have many talented young
people in Thurrock, it can be difficult to see the amazing
opportunities which are waiting on their doorstep. We want them to
see there’s not just one kind of creativity or talent. Work gives
opportunities to grow and develop with rewards that last much
longer than 5 minutes of fame.
“We have some of the UK’s top
companies in Thurrock and Next Top Boss is helping 1,000 young
people direct their creativity into work – rewarding,
exciting, challenging work – with new found confidence, experience
and drive. Working together – Thurrock’s young people and
Thurrock’s world-class companies – can all be
winners.”
Tony Hall, Chief Executive,
Royal Opera House, was one of the first sponsors to come on
board:
“Since the Royal Opera House
decided to move its set and scenery production workshops to
Thurrock, we
have been deeply involved with the community here – and
particularly with young people. The enthusiasm and creativity here
is tremendous and this project will take that and harness it in a
way that will bring real results for local business and
young people.”
Lord Sugar, Government
Enterprise Champion, welcomed the project
"I'm glad so many organisations
have got together to help young people see what the world of
business is like. I have seen the talent that the next
generation has to offer in my travels round the country, and this
needs to
be harnessed to give the UK the best opportunity to compete in
global markets. I would encourage all of you participating in
the Next Top Boss to learn the skills you will need to have a
successful career!"
Will McKee, Chairman, Thurrock
Thames Gateway Development Corporation, said:
“We are delighted to be working
with so many leading UK businesses and other top organisations on
this momentous project. Thurrock is a young, dynamic place
with great potential – and together we can make a difference to the
future of young people in the area. Next Top Boss will
challenge all of those involved to try something new while
supporting our local businesses and colleges by helping to build a
quality talent pool for the future.”
Paul Lancaster, General
Manager, Lakeside shopping centre, is one of the project’s key
sponsors:
“We have some fantastic businesses
here and some real career opportunities – in Lakeside alone you can
find people who’ve come up through the ranks to run major stores –
and with our plans for this area it can only get more exciting.
This challenge is all about encouraging young people in Thurrock to
think beyond the present and aspire to more – and to tell the rest
of the world we’re open for business.”
Julia Spearman, Acting
Principal of Thurrock & Basildon College, a key
partner:
“While many young people locally
are talented – and the area has produced West End stars like Denise
Van Outen and Russell Brand – few think of business careers. We
want to change that and point their creative talents at business,
too.”
The competition will start in January
with a recruitment road show around the local colleges to recruit
1,000 entrants who will then make a 1-minute phone video pitch on
why they should be part of the project. After this 100 teams
will be formed ready to take on the first of the
challenges.
Running throughout the year the
competition will culminate in an awards ceremony towards the end of
2010.
END
For further information about
the Next Top Boss please contact:
Jane Groom, London Communications
Agency, 020 7612 8485, jg@londoncommunications.co.uk
Suzi Lawrence, London Communications
Agency, 020 7612 8491, sl@londoncommunications.co.uk
NOTES TO
EDITORS
About Next Top
Boss
To find out more about the project or
get involved visit www.nexttopboss.co.uk
Next Top Boss is a
challenge competition based on a reality show format but with a
serious purpose. It has 3 key goals:
• to open the doors of the
working world to young people with limited opportunity or ambition
– and to build the next generation of business leaders
• to bring together local
organisations – colleges, government and business – to help young
people and solve local challenges
• to promote Thurrock as a place
to do business
The competition starts in January 2010
and runs through the year. Competitors will work in teams to solve
a series of local and business challenges. They will shape their
own challenges, using contacts and information from the 20
partners. The competition will test their ability to make and use
relationships, come up with ideas and work together.
1) Recruitment – there will be a
roadshow run with local colleges to recruit 1000 entrants. Entrants
will make a 1-minute phone video pitch as to why they should be
part of the project.
2) Team formation – we will form
100 teams. Teams will meet at a team launch event and come up with
their own name and brand to be worn on a T shirt – in the first
mini challenge
3) Destination Thurrock challenge
– a challenge to promote Thurrock
4) Community challenge – a
challenge to solve a local community issue
5) Business challenge –
competitors pitch to one of the 20 organizations to solve a
business problem or improve their business
The judging panel will be made up from
the 20 organisations participating and the judging will be scored
on a set of general criteria – leadership, team work, staying
power, creativity, delivery, growth potential and ambition. These
will be refined early next year into more detailed criteria for
each challenge.
Each individual challenge will test
teams’ ability to:
• Engage stakeholders and build
contacts – in order to shape their response to the
challenge
• Use and interpret data to make
it robust and relevant
• Understand the Thurrock context
and make their response appropriate
• Develop a realistic but
sufficiently ambitious response
• Show value for money
• Pitch and present
effectively
The prizes
Teams will be scored on each challenge
and then overall, with scores being added up at the end in a final
judging. The whole competition will be a benefit to entrants as
they will learn throughout and build a personal portfolio of their
experiences. It is important that all young people benefit and stay
throughout the process to ensure real learning and development.
The winning teams will be offered a
package of benefits from the 20 partners from mentoring and
coaching to learning sessions, training in key areas such as cv
development, work experience and work placements.
About skills in
Thurrock
Thurrock is below the national average
when it comes to skills – jobs tend to be low value and low skills.
Young people often lack ambition or understanding of how to build a
career – and the geography means that while there are major
employers in the area they are often not accessible or visible.
Most management level personnel in Thurrock either live in the
borough and commute to London – or live in London or other counties
and commute to Thurrock. While many local employers lack the skills
and managers they need – and although they can import people, they
need to grow local and more permanent talent.
Next Top Boss will broker a
relationship between colleges and workplaces, helping to inform and
educate a generation of local young people about the opportunities
on their doorstep – and make them workplace ready.
About the partners – Team
Thurrock
Twenty top organisations are now on
board, making up Team Thurrock and representing manufacturing, the
service sector, retail, education and the arts.
The partners are: Thurrock Thames
Gateway Development Corporation, Thurrock Council, the Royal Opera
House, the Department for Communities and Local Government, Procter
and Gamble, Unilever, Lakeside, Carpetright, Marks & Spencer,
the RSPB, Havering College, Palmer’s College, South East Essex
College, Thurrock and Basildon College, the Port of Tilbury,
npower, Petroplus, Veolia and Vertex.