Social Mobility: The Role of Business and Brands

During Social Mobility Month 2025, Our CEO, Gary Stannett discusses the important role that Businesses and Brands have in creating pathways for young people.

In the UK, social mobility remains one of the most pressing - and persistent - challenges despite years of policy discussion, with many young people still locked out of opportunity because of their background, not their potential.

For far too many young people, where you’re from still determines where you can go.

As the saying goes - 'Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not'. And the further you are from our capital city the rarer those opportunities are.

“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not”

Here at the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, we believe that addressing those lack of opportunities is a societal issue - and that while the government certainly has a role to play (and a critical role at that), the private sector is a vital part of the solution. 

Businesses that are serious about equity, inclusion, and identifying new talent pathways need to look beyond traditional recruitment and partner with organisations working at the grassroots to invest further 'upstream' to inspire, enhance, and harness that untapped potential in our working-class communities.

The Rio Ferdinand Foundation is committed to working with like-minded brands and businesses to deliver those outcomes, and our established network of partners is now demonstrating what best practice can look like with some fantastic initiatives underway with the likes of Warner Music, UEFA, Festival Republic / Live Nation, Ralph Lauren, Statom and many more.

By working with sport, music, digital and tech industries, and the wider cultural sector, we can engage and empower young people from underserved communities in a language and environment they understand. We are creating real pathways into education, training, entrepreneurship, and employment through the delivery of real-life experience, mentoring and the de-mystification of industries and sectors.

“We are creating real pathways into education, training, entrepreneurship, and employment through the delivery of real-life experience.”

By partnering with brand and corporate partners we can collectively deliver the skills, support, resources, networks, and platforms to amplify this impact and with a new online offer in the pipeline, this approach is due to be extended across the UK and Ireland.

Whether through strategic partnerships, targeted CSR, or supporting inclusive talent development, through our partnerships we can help bridge the gap between potential and opportunity.

Social mobility isn’t 'just' a policy issue - and that isn't letting our politicians off the hook as policy is a key part of the jigsaw (loosening conditions on using the vast apprenticeship levy underspend to enable more young people to access skills training anyone?) - it’s also a business imperative. 

“Social mobility isn’t ‘just’ a policy issue - it’s also a business imperative.”

Investing in it means investing in a future workforce that is more skilled, more diverse, and more resilient.

A socially mobile population with opportunities to build meaningful careers and rise out of poverty will create a stronger, safer, and more inclusive nation.

Let’s build that future — together.