YE Gibraltar is a partner of YE UK which is the leading charity that empowers young people to harness their personal and business skills and was founded in 1962.

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Our values:

• Unlocking Potential- Recognising and developing the potential of all, in our organisation, in the young people we champion and the stakeholders we work with.

• One Team – Working together to achieve our goals.

• Enterprising and Resilient – Embracing change, innovating, adapting and reacting to challenges and opportunities.

• Creating Great Impact - Aiming to create the biggest impact on young people and their educators.

 

1960s

Sir Walter Salomon founded Young Enterprise in 1962. It was based on the successful Junior Achievement programme in America. He admired the US charity’s ability to foster work readiness, entrepreneurship, financial literacy skills, and its philosophy of “learning by doing” that encouraged tens of thousands of young people to reach their potential. The first UK Company Programme was launched in 1963 in Chatham, Kent and it attracted 113 teenagers who formed eight student firms.

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1970s

In a great leap forward, twenty-two Young Enterprise Area Boards of volunteers started up across the UK in 1973. They created Young Enterprise Centres in disused warehouses and factories, a church building and a pub. The European Federation of Young Enterprise got going in 1977.

 

1980s

With backing from giants such as Mobil Oil, the Young Enterprise Company Competition had, by 1981, started taking the exciting format it has today. Six regional winners attended national finals in London with the Best Company receiving £1,500 in cash. Sir Walter Salomon received a Knighthood from The Queen in 1982, recognising his achievement.

 

1990s

As student numbers hit a new peak of 24,000, the Department of Trade and Industry joined Midland Bank (now HSBC) in 1997 to support the UK finals of the Young Enterprise Company Competition. The Salomon family donated two Founder’s Awards in memory of Sir Walter: for leadership and personal progress. The national charity developed its website in 1998, piloted an international trading extension to the Company Programme, introduced the “Entrepreneurship Masterclass”for 13-17 year olds and the Graduate Programme for university students.

 

2000s

We marked the millennium by mounting more than 1,000 stands at Young Enterprise trade fairs on the same weekend throughout the UK. In 2001 the number of businesses supporting Young Enterprise hit 2,000 and we launched the Primary Programme for 4 to 12 year olds. Young Enterprise reached more than 105,000 young people a year in 2002, an astonishing 40% annual growth. In 2005 the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced Young Enterprise would lead the Government’s new Pathfinder Enterprise Summer Schools.

 

2010s

And the it started in Gibraltar. Since then thousands of students have taken part in and benefited from the various YE programs​. The Company Program has provided the incredible experience that the UK finals in London represent. Our local winning team represents Gibraltar in its own right and have done so with great success over the years.

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Now

Now established and following the success of the company programme we have expanded programmes to a wider and younger audience. Further secondary programmes are planned and we are in discussions with the Department of Education to expand even further in to the Middle Schools. At the other end we are looking into ways of extending student involvement beyond Company Program.

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