Skill Up Step Up: Designer who went from council estate to selling high-end watches hails our ‘crucial’ get-to-work appeal

Campaign to upskill young people ‘so important,’ says William Adoasi

Fashion designer William Adoasi, who grew up on a south London council estate where joblessness was among the highest in the capital, has backed our campaign to upskill unemployed youth and get them into work as an “important and crucial intervention”.

The 31-year-old British-Ghanaian entrepreneur who made his money by founding Vitae London, a black-owned London-based watch and accessories brand, recalled how he had seized on the chance he got to better himself – and suggested that young people could do the same with our campaign.

He said: “This campaign in which you have secured £1m from Barclays and partnered with the likes of City Gateway and Springboard to upskill young people so they can get on the first rung of the jobs ladder is so important. Trying to get young people work-ready is a massive gap that isn’t always fulfilled by the education system. Often people can have a great education but still don’t know how to build a CV, interview or present correctly, so being able to address this gap and enlighten young people will not only help them get jobs - but keep jobs.”

His personal break came at 13, he said, when he got a scholarship to attend a private school in the Midlands and left his estate in Peckham. He recalled his upbringing in a two-bedroom flat with a family of nine where his parents taught him the importance of a good education. “My dad was the first in his family to learn how to read or write and he broke a cycle of poverty that had plagued our family for generations.”

But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Once when he was playing rugby for his school he overheard his teammates refer to the opposing state school players as “council estate scum”. “I was taken aback,” he said. “I got into that school on a scholarship due to my ability so they didn't realise I was from the same council estates they were insulting. Straddling those worlds was a massive eye-opener.”

William Adoasi’s dad was the first in his family to learn to read and write (Matt Writtle)

It was at private school, he added, that he first began to realise he wanted to make a social impact beyond business that would help “even the playing field”. William emerged from secondary school with a burning passion to build himself up. He got his first job at 16, interning with Bloomberg two years later and then he dropped out of University of Greenwich where he was studying business management to launch his first business in sports provision – all before turning 21.

His business journey was far from conventional but in a critical moment before launching Vitae London in 2016, he worked with City Gateway, helping to support young people to develop the skills they would need for the world of work. He said he saw first-hand the importance of nurturing young people and growing their confidence by giving them the tools to thrive in their career.

“It is because I have seen City Gateway in action that I can say your campaign is not just important, but crucial,” he said.

Today, Vitae London is one of the most popular watches with endorsements from Richard Branson, Wretch 32 and American filmmaker Ava DuVernay. William was listed by Forbes in 2020 as one of the top 25 Leading Black British Businesspeople and sales soared past $1m this year.

But selling $1m worth of watches is not enough, he said. He wanted to make a social impact, so he has pledged a portion of sales to support the education of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Every watch sold provides a student overseas with two sets of school uniforms to ensure they can attend.

What is his advice to young people in London struggling to find work? “Find where your passions are and target the skills that are needed in that area. If you can marry your skills with your passion, you will stand out and succeed.”

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Our campaign in a nutshell

What are we doing? We have launched Skill Up Step Up, a £1m initiative in partnership with Barclays LifeSkills to upskill unemployed and disadvantaged young Londoners so they can be “work ready” and step up into sustainable jobs or apprenticeships.

Why are we doing this? Youth unemployment in London has soared by 55 per cent to 105,000 since the start of the pandemic, meaning that 21 per cent of 16-24 year-olds are jobless at a time of record job vacancies of 1.17 million countrywide. This mismatch, caused largely by an employability skills and experience gap, is leading to wasted lives and billions of pounds of lost productivity for our economy.

How will it work? The £1m from Barclays will provide grant funding over two years for up to five outstanding handpicked charities that provide disadvantaged jobless young Londoners with employability skills and wrap-around care to get them into the labour market and transform their lives. The charity partners we have announced so far are:

1) Springboard – they will support young people into jobs in the hospitality industry (hotels, restaurants, bars, leisure and tourism) via a three to six week programme that includes one-to-one mentoring, soft skills and employability development (confidence, work attitude, CV building, interview practice, time management), practical industry and hard skills training including food safety and customer service, as well as access to work experience placements.

2) City Gateway – they will get young people work ready with a 12-week employability programme, including digital skills, a work placement, CV and interview skills and a dedicated one-to-one coach, extending to up to 20 weeks if they need English and/or Maths qualifications, enabling them to gain entry level positions including apprenticeships in a wide range of sectors, including finance, digital media, marketing, retail, property and IT.

More partner charities will be announced in due course.

How can the young and jobless skill up? If you are aged 16-24 and want to upskill towards a job in hospitality, contact Springboard here.

If you want to upskill towards a job in any other sector, contact City Gateway here.

For tools, tips and learning resources visit barclayslifeskills.com

How can employers step up? We want companies – large, medium and small – to step up to the plate with a pledge to employ one or more trainees in a job or apprenticeship. They could work in your IT, customer service, human resources, marketing or sales departments, or any department with entry-level positions. You will be provided with a shortlist of suitable candidates to interview. To get the ball rolling, contact the London Community Foundation, who are managing the process on: skillup@londoncf.org.uk.

How can readers help? The more money we raise, the more young people we can skill up. To donate, use click here.