Outset Bristol is a great example of how YTKO has successfully engaged with people from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. More than 41% of the people enrolled on the programme come from BME backgrounds, despite only making up 12% of the Bristol population.

Outset Bristol’s Programme Director, Andy Dean, is particularly pleased with engagement levels amongst the BME population:

“Our feedback from clients and intermediaries, such as Rosa Ross, Chair of the Anglo-Iranian Society, is really positive, saying that the Outset Bristol programme is very informative, highly practical, understands their needs, and is a strong booster for building up confidence, one of the key barriers to enterprise.”

A recent report published by Race for Opportunity, the race campaign from Business in the Community, said that there are high levels of entrepreneurial drive amongst British workers of BME origin.

Lee Hughes, Head of Enterprise at YTKO, agrees:

“Outset Bristol has been very good at accessing the BME community and the fact that this community has engaged with us shows that they are interested in setting up and establishing their own businesses.

“In certain communities working for yourself is a primary focus and, as such, self-employment and entrepreneurialism has been cultivated for generations.

“We need to ensure that the services that offer enterprise support are accessible to BME communities. YTKO believes that there is no community that is hard to reach but instead it is the services that need to be accessed that are putting themselves beyond reach. Traditionally BME communities haven’t engaged with mainstream services because these services haven’t adequately targeted or catered for them. We need to make sure that the individual needs of BME communities are met.

“Self-employment is an option that needs to be explored for the BME community alongside opening up the current mainstream employment support to those communities.

“YTKO has the experience to guide mainstream providers as to how they can better engage with the BME community and make sure they have credibility in these communities.”