Former M&S Chief Executive to Lead Youth Employment Drive

A business leader with decades of experience at the most senior levels has been appointed to drive forward the Government’s Youth Guarantee and ensure all young people have the chance to earn or learn

Former Marks & Spencer Chief Executive Marc Bolland has been tasked with convening CEOs across sectors to help implement Youth Guarantee reforms, bringing the voice of businesses into policy delivery. This will help create opportunity for young people and tackle the crisis of one million not in employment, education or training (NEET).

As well as leading major companies including Marks & Spencer, Morrisons supermarkets and Heineken, Marc is founder chairman of the charity Movement to Work, which working with the DWP has helped over 200,000 unemployed young people into work.

In his new role as Lead Non-Executive Director at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Marc will convene leading Chief Executives across sectors to help expand opportunity, create clear routes into work and tackle the long-standing challenge of youth unemployment.

He will also advise Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden on the Government’s response to the Alan Milburn Review, which has just released its interim report. In this role he will be asked to place partnership with business and the third sector at the heart of the Government’s approach.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said:

Marc’s role will:

Marc Bolland said:

Marc brings experience at the most senior levels of business, having served as Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer plc, Chief Executive of Morrisons supermarkets, and Chief Operating Officer at Heineken.

He also brings a deep passion for improving young people’s lives through work, as demonstrated in his role as founding chairman of Movement to Work, a charity that offers free support to businesses to create youth employability programmes. The organisation has so far delivered more than 200,000 opportunities for 16 to 30-year-olds facing barriers to work.

Marc will help bring business into solving this national crisis – with some employers already stepping in to be part of the solution.

Severn Trent is the latest major employer to back the Government’s Youth Guarantee, which aims to give every young person the chance to earn or learn. Other supporters include the Premier League, Channel 4, Royal Shakespeare Company and Pinewood Studios.

The Government has commissioned Alan Milburn to look into the root causes of youth inactivity and identify what more can be done to support young people into work and learning. Last week, Alan Milburn published his interim findings which highlighted calls for a system reset to support more young people into work.

The report found that, without urgent action, the number of young people who are NEET - not in education, employment, or training - will rise from 1-in-8 to 1-in-6 young people within five years, representing 1.25 million young lives.

The government is prioritising early intervention, ensuring young people are supported before they reach crisis point, identifying and supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), speech delays, and behavioural risks as early as possible to improve long-term outcomes.

Marc is the latest major figure from the world of business brought in by the department to utilise their extensive experience and expertise. Last year, former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield was asked to lead the Keep Britain Working Review which, with the support of employers, has been looking at ways to help people return to or stay in work.

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