More than a quarter of young Brits want to run their own business

More than a quarter of young Britons want to run their own business once they leave full-time education.

That’s according to the latest edition of the Barclays Youth Barometer, which questioned thousands of 14 to 25-year-olds in order to identify their career ambitions for the future.

Twenty-six per cent of those questioned shared hopes of starting their own business. Many of these could be interested in the various franchise opportunities for sale once they leave school, college or university. Franchising could be a good way for youngsters to ease themselves into business ownership, as they are already working with a proven business model.

Ashok Vasani, who is chief executive of Barclays’ retail and business banking arm, was pleased to hear that such a large proportion of youngsters were keen to go it alone in the business world.

In an interview with freshbusinessthinking.com, he argued that businesses, government and schools all had a part to play to ensure that these dreams became reality.

He said: “We understand that only by equipping young people with the right skills and quality work experience will we enable young people to reach their potential.”

According to 4-traders.com, more than 60 per cent of those questioned believed it would be harder to get a traditional job in the next six months compared to right now.