Lord Young attended this prestigious annual event, which is hosted by the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) and the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI). It brings together educators, entrepreneurs and other key figures from the UK’s small business, enterprise and skills sector.
The IOEE Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2013 to honour individuals who have made a significant contribution to enterprise and entrepreneurship. This contribution, whether it be through research writing, leadership or enterprise support, must have a significant and lasting impact on the enterprise field and must demonstrate a lifetime of commitment to raising the profile of enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Politician and entrepreneur Lord David Young is the son of a business man who went on to follow an entrepreneurial path himself and has enjoyed a long, illustrious and high-profile political career. However, in more recent years his work has largely been concerned with creating a landscape and shaping policy to improve the circumstances of his fellow entrepreneurs across the UK.
In 2010, Lord Young was appointed Enterprise Advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron. In this capacity he conducted a comprehensive review of the Government’s relationship with small firms, entitled Make Business Your Business, the first of its kind in almost 40 years. The result of the review was a new Government programme – Start up Loans, which provide both loans and mentoring to UK firms. An estimated £129 million has so far been distributed by the scheme to 25,000 entrepreneurial individuals across the UK.
Lord Young spoke passionately when receiving his IOEE lifetime achievement award reflecting on his own experiences as an entrepreneur and sharing his journey to becoming appointed as Enterprise Advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron and recognised the important role of SFEDI and IOEE within this field stating “I couldn’t think of a better Institute or organisation to receive an award such as this”
Ruth Lowbridge MBE, Executive chair of the SFEDI Group, said: “Lord Young, as someone who has himself operated successfully on many entrepreneurial platforms, has set out to give other ambitious, hardworking people an extra boost. As he shared his journey with us at the House of Lords, it was wonderful to hear how he is continuing to make a difference to the lives of young people through the establishment of the Careers and Enterprise Company set up to inspire, inform and help young people to achieve even more. ”
