Marks & Spencer launches 1,000 training places for young people

British high street retailer Marks & Spencer is launching a new graduate-style training scheme for 1,000 young people across the UK and Ireland, designed to “build skills and confidence through retail, with no degree requirement”.

The ‘Not Just Any Career’ six-month training scheme is aimed at young people aged 18 to 24 years old to tackle what M&S calls the “growing challenge” for young people who are not in employment, education or training to provide practical experience, support and a direct route into management.

The training will be provided at stores across the country, offering young people the “first rung of the leadership ladder,” with successful participants able to progress and build a long-term career with the retailer to become store managers with further training.

The initiative comes as an interim report published last week from Alan Milburn’s Young People and Work Review found that nearly one million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET), roughly one in eight, which is forecast to rise to one in six by 2030.

Thinus Keeve, retail director at M&S, said in a statement: “Retail is one of the few careers where you can start young, learn fast, lead teams early and build an incredible future through hard work and ambition. As Stuart Machin [CEO of M&S] has argued, retail is the engine of the everyday economy, and there is no better place to start than on the shopfloor.

“At M&S, we want more young people to see retail not just as a first job, but as a career with real opportunity, real responsibility and real progression. You do not need a degree to succeed here; you need attitude, energy, resilience and the willingness to learn. This programme is about opening doors for the next generation and giving talented young people the chance to thrive.”