Government figures released this week tell us that almost 20% of young people aged between 16 and 24 in the UK are classified as NEETS (Not in Education, Employment or Training) – that’s a staggering amount of potential sat around on sofas watching Loose Women! In a bid to change this the government have launched a plan to incentivise businesses to employ young people, with a bonus if they can keep them in employment, training or education for 12 months or more. More interesting was Nick Cleggs take on the recipe for success: Skills, Confidence and Opportunity. Incentivising businesses can create opportunity, jobs, education and training can give them skills but confidence is a trickier one to crack. And yet, confidence is the trait which is likely the keystone to the issue.

Figuring out what’s missing is critical, is it skills or confidence? Does someone know how to do something or is it that they’re not confidence or motivated enough to do so? The knee jerk reaction tends to be skills and the solution ‘send them on a training course’. Whereas, in our experience, it’s often confidence. The solution? Find out what they need to become more confident and support them to get there – cheaper, faster and more effective than a day in the classroom. Fifteen Cornwall execute this two pronged approach brilliantly -  a comprehensive training programme in the kitchen and a whole heap of personalised support to figure out how to believe in themselves and have the motivation to succeed. We’re lucky enough to be part of the external support team so have first hand experience of how brilliantly this works. So Nick Clegg I urge you to learn from best practice and help employers provide both confidence and support and I think we might have a Michelin Starred recipe.