As corporate firms reduce places or even scrap graduate schemes and implement recruitment freezes, it is now time we also begin to reassess our perceptions of Generation Y. This is a generation of future business leaders that is beginning to show the kind of savvy entrepreneurial instincts that will ultimately steer the long-term growth of UK economy.

With youth unemployment currently at record highs in excess of 900,000 many school and even university-leavers have few opportunities in the world of work. It’s little surprise then that in a recent survey by the Prince's Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) of people aged 18-30, 41% of respondents said that they aspired to set up their own business and 78% said they have had an idea for one.

New technology, growing international trade, improved communications and increasingly sophisticated and demanding buyers (consumers as well as B2B) have increased the requirement for businesses of all sizes to continually develop and improve their products and services. Business leaders know that the ability to satisfy the changing demands of customers and nowhere is change more noticeable than in the marketplace.

Generation Y that has grown up in the technology era and have been blessed with skills from an early age that ensures they have unique talents that business needs. In the technology age, jobs are no longer for life and young business builders need to be innovative, technologically savvy, creative and flexible.

The result of continuous change is that markets grow, mature and disappear more rapidly today than they did a decade ago. Successful businesses must continually assess the value of their markets and must be prepared and have the flexibility to enter new markets for growth and even survival. Those businesses best able to meet customer expectations will become the most successful and dominant in their marketplace. The result is that the key to business success today is the business’s ability to satisfy customers’ current needs, the key to continuing business success is now the ability to satisfy customers’ future needs. Young entrepreneurs are ideally placed on the cusp of that wave of change- understanding not only current marketplace trends but also having the innovation and flexibility to disrupt the marketplace and re-invent the model for future trends.

A network of future leaders

Few if any entrepreneurs have ever been successful on their own- it’s about building networks and relationships. Young entrepreneurs need role models they can relate to, some may be household names and others will be inspirational young achievers.

Aged just 21, Carly Ward, is both successful and inspirational and now she is sharing her experiences and journeys through the Young Entrepreneur Society- a network which offers both training and leadership for those young people determined to succeed in life. Carly believes that success is not reserved for a chosen few but that it is there for anyone and she is determined to help other young entrepreneurs identify their objectives and to achieve them.

Having returned to the UK with no money after the collapse of the family business in Spain, Carly began pitching her idea for a support network for young entrepreneurs that became YES. Today she has managed to get financial support from banks, The Prince’s Trust and Frederick’s Foundation and has begun to build a successful business.

With some of the top UK’s top entrepreneurs including Mike Clare the founder of Dreams, Adam Balon co-founder of Innocent Drinks, Julie Meyer CEO of Ariadne Capital and Levi Roots of Reggae Reggae Sauce participating in YES, Carly has become an award winning businesswoman in her own right.  In March, Carly received the latest of her many accolades when she was invited to the Palace of Westminster by Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow MP and was honoured at the House of Lords with the Inspirational Women in Business Award run by national children’s and young people’s charity Jigsaw 4 u.

Investing in young entrepreneurs

Support for young entrepreneurial talent may be on the increase but finding the right investor for any business remains difficult. Whilst there are investors out there it is essential to find someone who understands and is committed to and understands your business; to that end Carly is working with Rockstar Youth to launch the YES Angel Fund for under 25’s.

This new venture sees the Young Entrepreneurs Society teaming up with Sean Hamilton, a 20 year old entrepreneur from London and Jonathan Pfahl, an ex-Goldman Sachs Director. The debut YES Angel Fund will be unveiled at an exclusive launch event for the YES Network at the offices of Nabarro LLP in London in April.

The aim of the YES Fund is to further reduce the barriers which restrict young entrepreneurs from bringing business ideas to market, whilst offering the support and guidance which have previously been difficult to access

Today’s young achievers supporting tomorrow’s

The UK has a pent-up energy for entrepreneurial activity that has been waiting for the right economic and political conditions. With government putting entrepreneurialism at the heart of the national agenda it is certain that Generation Y will play an exciting role in the economic recovery.

The role of young entrepreneurs is clearly multi-dimensional, not only in supporting the future growth of the UK economy but also to act as role models for all young people to prove that entrepreneurship is a viable and exciting career option. Carly and Sean are just two examples of this latest generation of young, gutsy entrepreneurs who are determined to go out and reach their goals and are not deterred by the challenges of building a business or of hard work.