Enterprise Nation partners with charity to support the UK's next generation of entrepreneurs with free workshops

A new enterprise charity is inspiring the next generation of business owners with free start-up workshops for 16 to 25 year-olds in Birmingham and London.

The Start Something series is a pilot scheme funded by the Enterprise Trust, a charity backed by Homeserve entrepreneur Richard Harpin.

The workshops have been carefully developed by Enterprise Nation to appeal to a young audience, and will take place at city accelerator Innovation Birmingham and in central London.

Helen Booth, COO at Enterprise Trust, said: "The statistics surrounding the ambition to start a business amongst young people are astonishing. Around 60% now hope to work for themselves at some point in their career.

"The question is; how do we ensure they get the right kind of advice at the right time in order to help them achieve their dreams?

"The Start Something series has been carefully developed in conjunction with Enterprise Nation, to offer inspiration, knowledge, a good helping of confidence and everything in between.

"In the future, more , not less, people will be working for themselves, and we hope these sessions will be instrumental in making it happen."

The series will comprise eight evening sessions over seven months, starting on 29 January 29 and finishing at the end of July.

They will be delivered by the charismatic Henry C Blanchard, an entrepreneur who left a corporate job in his 20s and set up various different ventures including an adventure sports business and a charity in Uganda.

He now works with Enterprise Nation, Oxford University Business School and Escape the City to inspire others to do the same.

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation said: "Developing the skills of the next generation of entrepreneurs is vital. Technology has made it possible for more people to start a business, and access global markets from their kitchen table.

"These workshops run by Henry are designed to be fun, but informative as well as inspiring, delivering exactly what young self-starters need to know to get them started."

As part of the package, the attendees will also get free access to Enterprise Nation membership which includes weekly online masterclasses, free adviser consultations, access to retail buyers, ebooks and discounts on other events and business essentials.

The news comes as Enterprise Nation launches its Student StartUp of the Year award with applications closing on 25 February.