I had all these work mums who were so encouraging it changed my life'

"We had agreed with The King's Trust then The Prince's Trust to take a group of hard-to-reach young Londoners from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds who had been through their courses, said Sarah. The idea was to offer a four-week placement to build their work skills, boost confidence, and provide wrap-around support. The hope was to give them a foot on the ladder and possibly hire some of them. Our Marble Arch store was one of several involved in this process."

"I have to admit, while we were fully committed and motivated by the challenge, we were nervous. We'd never done anything like this before and weren't sure we could give them the support they'd need. It hit me they'd need far more support than we expected Sarah Findlater, M&S People Director I remember that first day: none of them made eye contact. They didn't take their coats off it was clear they didn't feel they belonged. I thought, How will they talk to customers if they can't even talk to us?'"

Marks & Start began as a pilot four-week placement for eight hard-to-reach young Londoners in partnership with The King's Trust then The Prince's Trust to build work skills, confidence and provide wrap-around support. The initial cohort revealed a greater need for sustained support than expected, prompting expanded backing. The scheme expanded into a national programme supporting around 600 unemployed young people per year, with over 13,000 supported in total. Last year 88 percent of programme completers secured contracts with M&S, and many alumni have progressed into management roles within the company.

Read at www.standard.co.uk