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Our Story
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Sir Walter Salomon founded Young Enterprise in 1962, 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.
1960s
1970s
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In 1973, twenty-two Young Enterprise Area Boards of volunteers started up across the UK. 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 Programme Competition had, by 1981, started taking the exciting format it still 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 in1982, recognising his achievement.
1990s
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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 and introduced the Entrepreneurship Masterclass for 13 to 17 year olds and the Graduate Programme for university students.
2000s
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Young Enterprise marked the millennium by mounting more than 1,000 stands at trade fairs on the same weekend throughout the UK.
In 2001 the number of businesses supporting Young Enterprise hit 2,000 and the Primary Programme for 4 to 12 year olds was launched. 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.
2005 sees the start of Young Enterprise Gibraltar!
Chairman Carlos Garcia brings the Enterprise in Action one-day activity as well as the Company Programme competition to first the Gibraltar College, followed very quickly by Westside and Bayside Comprehensive Schools.
Thousands of students have since taken part in and benefited from the various YE programmes​.
The Company Programme has provided the incredible experience that the UK finals in London represent; at first Gibraltar was part of the Yorkshire and Humber Region, but since2012 our local winning team represents Gibraltar in its own right and have done so with great success over the years.
2020s
Due to the global pandemic and its restrictions no competition was possible duringthe academic year 20/21.
Year 21/22 saw a tentative return with virtual Final events bothin Gibraltar and in UK.
As the winning teams could not travel to UK for the Final, we organised a day out of their choice: Bahia park in Algeciras! 22/23 saw us fully back in action with a real-lifetrade fair in Casemates, pop-up shops and stands in Eroski and the ICC forecourt.
It also had the first ever Fiver Programme being trialled in St Anne’s Upper Primary,followed by St Bernard’s and Bishop Fitzgerald Upper Primary the year after.
Current
Now well established and following the success of the company programme we are focused on further expanding our programmes to a wider and younger audience, working with the Department of Education and their Curriculum Coordinator to expand to all Gibraltar Upper and Lower Primary schools.
We extended our Licence Agreement with YE UK for another five years and are very much looking forward to the future!