Sir Richard Harpin and Goldman Sachs Gives launch enterprise education programme

New partnership with The Careers & Enterprise Company aims to boost youth entrepreneurship and enterprise education, kickstarted in the North East and adaptable across all regions.
Maple Review calls for stronger national, public-private partnerships to break down barriers to entrepreneurship caused by economic deprivation.

Goldman Sachs Gives and serial entrepreneur Sir Richard Harpin have joined forces with The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), the national body for careers education, to launch a new partnership to boost enterprise skills, widen opportunity for young people and build a blueprint for enterprise education nationwide.

The announcement comes as the Government-backed Maple Review calls for earlier and more equitable access to enterprise education. The review recommends that practical entrepreneurship education is embedded across all state secondary schools with a focus on economically deprived areas first.

The new Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Pilot will focus on the North East which has some of the lowest startup rates in the country. Productivity in the region remains 14.6% below the UK average, among the lowest in the country. Only 5% of young people in the region report interest of careers requiring entrepreneurial skills, despite SMEs accounting for over 99% of all UK businesses

The partnership will utilise CEC’s national network of Careers Hubs to:

• Connect more local entrepreneurs and start-ups to young people to help build creativity, resilience and entrepreneurial capability.
• Engage teachers to increase their confidence and understanding of enterprise through targeted professional development.
• Offer a place-based model to connect local schools into priority growth sectors where the small business economy is needed and can thrive.
• Bring schools closer to the industries and businesses driving local economic growth, helping young people build relevant skills and aspirations.

The pilot aims to test a scalable, replicable model for enterprise education that could be embedded as a universal entitlement, delivered locally, and designed to boost productivity and social mobility as drivers of inclusive growth. Alongside the Maple Review, recent Government reforms including the Curriculum and Assessment Review, Skills White Paper, and Industrial Strategy, place increasing emphasis on transferable skills, employability, and entrepreneurship.

The Pilot will launch in Autumn 2026, delivered by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, with evaluation and learning informing future recommendations on enterprise education and young people’s access to entrepreneurial pathways nationwide.

Blair McDougall MP, Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, said:

“Young people are our future entrepreneurs, the founders of the start-ups and scale-ups that will drive growth in every part of the country.

“The Maple Review rightly recognises the importance of enterprise education in ensuring opportunity is not determined by background.

“This partnership between Goldman Sachs Gives, Sir Richard Harpin and The Careers & Enterprise Company is an important example of how public and private sectors can work together to future-proof business skills and support the next generation of entrepreneurs. We look forward to seeing the impact of this work in the North East and beyond.”

Anthony Gutman, Co-CEO of Goldman Sachs International, said:

“Our commitment to social mobility at Goldman Sachs in the UK represents a multi-decade effort rooted in our own apprenticeship culture, and we are committed to leveraging the firm’s expertise to help address systemic barriers to the world of work. By supporting the integration of enterprise education into the curriculum, we are not just helping to prepare young

“people for jobs – we are empowering the next generation of innovators to drive a more resilient and productive national economy.

“We have seen firsthand through our 10,000 Small Businesses programme, the power of entrepreneurial skills to unlock growth and opportunity. We also recognise that building a resilient economy requires instilling this entrepreneurial mindset in future business leaders as early as possible.

“As a part of this new programme, we will draw on our 10,000 Small Businesses alumni network to connect seasoned business leaders with local schools, giving young people direct exposure to real-world mentoring and the mechanics of business.

Sir Richard Harpin, Founder of HomeServe & Growth Partner, Owner of Business Leader said:

“At the age of 6 I started breeding and selling rabbits. At 9, I was a children’s magician, and at 13 I was running a mail-order fly-tying business. It took me 30 years to build HomeServe and sell it for £4 billion. I know first-hand that enterprise is learnt by doing.

“Enterprise education is a no-brainer, yet only 35% of young people in England say they’ve had any exposure to it at secondary school. That can’t be right.

“We need to show the next generation how to solve problems, build confidence, learn from mistakes and create opportunities rather than wait for them. Especially in this job market.

“That’s why bringing entrepreneurship into schools matters. It will help more young people see that starting a business is a real and achievable path – not just for someone else, but for them. That’s good for them, good for jobs, and good for Britain.”

Baroness Nicky Morgan, Chair of The Careers & Enterprise Company, said:

“We know that many young people today are highly entrepreneurial and increasingly interested in starting their own businesses, sometimes even while they are still in education. So, supporting young people to explore entrepreneurial pathways is good for them and good for the economy and should be seen as a very valid career choice.

“Enterprise education also strengthens key skills such as adaptability, problem-solving, leadership and creativity.

“This pilot is an opportunity to show how schools, employers, regional and national partners can work together to embed meaningful enterprise education in a modern, enriched curriculum.”