Young Enterprise Scotland, a national charity dedicated to enterprise education, has announced the redundancy of 17 staff members after failing to secure crucial funding from the Scottish Government. The charity, which has been instrumental in delivering enterprise education to schools and colleges across Scotland for over 30 years, will now operate with a significantly reduced team of no more than a dozen employees.
The funding shortfall follows a shift in the grant allocation process. In July, the charity was informed that its core continuity grant would be replaced by a competitive funding process, which opened in August. Despite applying, Young Enterprise Scotland was not among the seven organizations awarded a share of £829,346 in October.
To prevent complete closure, the charity received emergency funding of £285,000 to cover existing costs for the financial year. CEO Emma Soanes expressed relief at avoiding closure but acknowledged the challenges ahead: “It is a huge relief that we have been able to avoid a complete closure of Young Enterprise Scotland and we are grateful to the Scottish Government for providing us with emergency funding which prevented our worst-case scenario becoming reality.”
She added: “Sadly however, this will provide little consolation to the 17 valued members of our team who have lost their jobs just weeks before Christmas. Losing our major income source has been an enormously unsettling and upsetting time for everyone involved.”
Last year, Young Enterprise Scotland supported over 18,000 students through its programmes, with more than 1,000 students gaining enterprise qualifications to prepare them for further education and work. Despite current challenges, Soanes remains committed to continuing their mission: “We will definitely be engaging our own entrepreneurial mindsets in the coming weeks and months as we reposition ourselves within the education ecosystem.”
A spokesperson from the Scottish Government commented on the situation: “This will obviously be a concerning time for all employees impacted and their families. The Scottish Government has engaged with Young Enterprise Scotland to try to mitigate the impact of their financial situation.”
