Georgiana Bristol

The Jobs Foundation is hiring! With a Business Council of nearly 1,500 leaders nationwide and Regional Councils already launching across the country, we're looking for a driven relationship-builder to help us reach every corner of the UK. If this sounds like you, apply below ⬇️

As we head towards the end of the academic year, with a fresh cohort of graduates ready to enter the labour market, today’s fall in vacancies should be a particular cause for concern to those in Government.

At the Jobs Foundation, we know that businesses are already doing great work to help tackle the worklessness crisis, and want the Government’s support to be able to do more, faster.

❗Today’s ONS employment figures continue to be a major cause of concern, despite the headline fall in unemployment. You can read my response to today’s figures below ⬇️

📺 Watch Christopher Nieper OBE, member of the Jobs Foundation Advisory Council, question Peter Kyle MP, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, at the Make UK National Manufacturing Conference 2026. 📮Last year, The Jobs Foundation joined forces with the Christopher Nieper Foundation and over 125 of Britain’s leading business leaders in an open letter to the Chancellor, calling for the introduction of Skills Tax Relief – a measure to help empower businesses to create more opportunities for young people to get into work. ⬇️ You can listen to Christopher's question, and Peter Kyle's response, below.

At our February Business Council breakfast, we were delighted to be joined by Octavius Black CBE, Founder of MindGym and Executive Chair of the Jobs Foundation's Employer Taskforce, where we discussed the findings from Mind Gym’s latest report on well-working and what the science of behavioural psychology tells us about what makes a job truly good. Octavius went on to set out five conditions that their research identifies as essential to healthy, meaningful work: 1️⃣ a degree of certainty, so that people know what to expect from those around them; 2️⃣ self-efficacy, the belief that the task at hand is within reach; 3️⃣ autonomy, illustrated by the consistently better work-life balance reported by the self-employed across multiple cultures; 4️⃣ belonging, the sense of being with people one respects and trusts; and 5️⃣ purpose, not the corporate mission statement kind, but the more personal conviction that if I hadn’t done that work, someone’s situation would be worse. You can read more about February's Business Council breakfast below ⬇️ 🔗 thejobsfoundation.com/octavius-black…

📅 February 2026 has been a significant month for the Jobs Foundation, seeing us convene some of the country's top businesses to tackle what is one of the defining challenges of our time: the staggering rise in economic inactivity that is costing our country billions in economic growth, and even more in terms of wasted human potential. 🍸 We hosted a special reception at Arbuthnot Latham, welcoming Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chair of the Government's Keep Britain Working review, for an interview with Octavius Black CBE, Executive Chair of our Employer Taskforce. ✍️ Our President, Matthew Elliott, wrote for The Telegraph on the latest ONS employment figures, arguing that public sector expansion masks the true extent of Britain’s jobs crisis. Sir Charlie made the case that action is needed to create a healthy work cycle to stop people falling out of the workforce because of ill-health, with a job being the best form of medicine that exists. 👨‍🏭 Educational Consultant Tim Clark, and Kellen Hadfield, our Business Council Manager, visited the The JCB Academy in Rocester,  to look at how schools can support the economy by developing youngsters ready for the world of work. ✈️ Tim and Catherine Frost, our Research Project Manager, also visited Britten-Norman on the Isle of White, to see their production line and learn about how they are building a pipeline of young talent entering the aerospace industry. 🎙️ Our Advisory Council Member, Christopher Nieper OBE, appeared on the Whitehall Sources podcast to discuss the human cost of the NEETs crisis. ✍️ Our North East Chairman, Kiran Fothergill, wrote for Bdaily on how the Government must make it easier to hire young people. 🤝 We welcomed Michael Lorimer, CEO of DCS Group, the UK’s leading FMCG and Consumer Health manufacturing, marketing and distribution, to our Board of Trustees. 💬 Our recent report, Cliff Edge, was mentioned in the House of Commons in a question to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and in Holyrood in a question to the First Minister, John Swinney. 🔜 When the Pledge is launched in the Autumn, it will bring together all the work of the Jobs Foundation to date, building on the findings of our foundational research - Two Million Jobs and Ladders of Opportunity - and using the network of our Business Council and regional councils to roll this out across the country. 🔜 We can’t wait to share much more about the Employer Taskforce over the months to come - with a big announcement coming in March - as the Jobs Foundation puts business at the heart of the national mission to get people into work, demonstrating business as a force for good.

We’re delighted that Michael Lorimer has joined the Jobs Foundation's Board of Trustees. Michael has served on our Advisory Council since our launch, and is currently Chief Executive Officer of @dcsgroupuk, the UK’s leading FMCG and Consumer Heath manufacturing, marketing, and distribution company. Michael is a powerful example of the Jobs Foundation’s driving mission of how business is a force for good, through his advocacy of character-led, meritocratic businesses that prioritise growth and shared prosperity for their people and communities.

It's great to see the @InstituteGC echoing the findings of our most recent report, 'Cliff Edge: Jobs in Aberdeen, the epicentre of the UK’s energy transition' ⬇️

🛩️ It was a pleasure to visit @BrittenNorman's Bembridge factory on the Isle of Wight as part of our upcoming education report. 📈 Our report lead, Tim Clark travelled to Bembridge with Catherine Frost and Jamie Booth to learn more about the impressive work Britten-Norman is doing on apprenticeships—working closely with the local college and other businesses to grow the pipeline of young talent entering the aerospace industry. 📖 The education report explores what businesses want and need from young people, where the education system is succeeding, and where it’s falling short in preparing students for the world of work. It also highlights how employers are stepping in to bridge these gaps and develop the skills their industries depend on. 🤝 Thank you, Caroline Emma Rigby and Daniel Ballinger, for meeting with us and sharing your perspectives.

Last week, we were joined by @HarrietCross_MP at our breakfast discussing the findings of our most recent report – 'Cliff Edge: Jobs in Aberdeen, the epicentre of the UK’s energy transition'. It was great to see Harriet highlighting the key conclusions of 'Cliff Edge' on @BBCNews Politics Live today, which you can watch below ⬇️

✍️ @NicholasTyrone, lead author of our latest report 'Cliff Edge', wrote for @spikedonline earlier this week, on how the UK's current energy policy is hurting Aberdeen, across all areas of the local economy in the north-east of Scotland.

🎥 We were delighted to partner with Shore Capital last week to host a breakfast with leading representatives from Parliament, the energy sector, and investors to discuss the conclusions of our latest report, 'Cliff Edge: Jobs in Aberdeen, the Epicentre of the UK’s Energy Transition' and how we can protect North Sea jobs. You can read our report in full below ⬇️

Many congratulations to my friend Simon Boyd (⁦@Simonboyd3Boyd⁩) for his well deserved OBE, announced in the New Years Honours. Not only is Simon a Trustee of ⁦@TheJobsFndn⁩, but as MD of Reid Steel, he is the exemplar of a business leader who is a force for good.

🎄Christmas is just around the corner, which means it's time for us to share the outtakes from our team's Christmas video, enjoy! ⬇️

🎄🎅 It's almost Christmas, so Mateus Carvalho visited the Jobs Foundation team to ask them some questions about the last year. 🔜 This has been a great year for the Jobs Foundation, so look out for some more reflections on 2025 across our social media over the coming days.

📈 2025 has been a year of exponential growth for the Jobs Foundation's Business Council, with more than 1,350 business leaders now part of our national coalition of job creators. 🚀 We are also delighted to have launched our first 3 regional business councils, in the North East, South West, and Yorkshire, hosting over 270 business leaders throughout the year – with each group led by a chair and steering group: 📌 In the North East, Kiran Fothergill, is working alongside Beverley Brooks of The Recruitment Junction, Alison Dunn of Society Matters CIC, Stuart Fearn MBE of OneBanx, John McDonald of Eagles Wings Consultancy and Ashleigh Wright of Westray Recruitment Group. You can watch our launch event at the Riverside Stadium here: youtu.be/UzlIOHzS0-k?si… 📌 In the South West, Simon Boyd is working alongside Tom Kegode of SparkShift, Hair At the Academy Mary Pugsley MBE, and Helen Stacey of Aspire Jobs. You can watch our launch event at The Captain's Club, Christchurch, here: youtu.be/NomXF3iNUF0?si… 📌 We look forward to announcing our Yorkshire Steering Group, to work alongside Martin McKervey, in early 2026. You can watch our launch event at Pennine Five // Iconic Sheffield Offices, here: youtu.be/5_bNwqupvl4?si… 🤝 We have also begun our series of regional roundtables, partnering with Exeter College and the University of Sunderland, from which we made a representation to the Chancellor's Autumn Budget calling for targeted Employer NIC's relief, which our modelling suggests could have created 111,000 jobs at no cost to the Exchequer. 🔜 2026 will be another big year for the Jobs Foundation's Business Council, with a fresh events programme in the North East, South West, and Yorkshire, as well as further regional rollouts throughout the year – watch this space! ✉️ If you would like to support our ongoing work in this area, please do contact our Business Council Manager, Kellen, at kellen@thejobsfoundation.com.

🚨 Last Tuesday, we were incredibly proud to launch 'Jobs Foundation Yorkshire' at the Pennine Five campus in Sheffield, with more than 130 supporters in attendance. 🎥 Hear more from Matthew Elliott, Martin McKervey, Kate Josephs CB, Edward Naylor, Kamran Rashid, Cllr Safiya Saeed, Cllr Rukhsana Ismail, and Dr Spencer Pitfield OBE below ⬇️

Yesterday, at @Prosperity_Inst I hosted a conference on the end of Net Zero and how to revive British industry. Throughout the day, we heard from MPs @TiceRichard, @ClaireCoutinho and Graham Stringer on how decades of consensus on Net Zero is coming to an end, and where to go next. @RianCFFWhitton previewed some incredibly exciting new research he has produced on the real effects that Net Zero has had on the foundational industrial economy in Britain (hint: not good!) And across multiple panels we heard from industry figures about the costs that Net Zero has imposed on their operations, how renewables subsidies have harmed the development of new nuclear technology in the UK, and the existential risks the facing the National Grid. This is just the start of a long-running project at Prosperity Institute on energy policy. Expect multiple papers in the next year on how to revive British energy policy and British industry, and what we need to do to actually unleash bountiful, abundant energy which really is too cheap to meter. 🇬🇧🏹

🔗ons.gov.uk/employmentandl…

We will be watching the Budget closely where Reeves should bring in Skills Tax Relief for those businesses who employ and train young people, as we've campaigned for alongside the @CSJ, as well as bringing in an exemption to employers' NICs for those long-term out of work