Our vision: A world where a young person’s ability and aspiration alone determine their career path.

Our mission: To broker connections between young people from working class backgrounds and the professional world, helping them develop the skills, knowledge and experience needed to start and sustain their careers.

For young people from professional families, the traditional pathway to a first experience of work was often informal: a parent’s colleague who could arrange a few days in an office; a family friend with a contact at a law firm; a university alumni network that opened doors before graduation. These informal routes still exist. In a tightening market, they are becoming more valuable. But they were never equally available and the gap is growing.

The Sutton Trust’s 2025 research shows that only 1 in 10 internships are found through an open advertisement. The rest go to those who already know someone. The class gap in access to internships has widened from 12 percentage points in 2018 to 20 today. 40% of unpaid interns now rely on the Bank of Mum and Dad to fund their placement and 26% of young people from working-class backgrounds say they simply cannot afford to take an unpaid role, compared with 15% from professional backgrounds. (Sutton Trust, 2025)

According to The Social Mobility Commission’s State of the Nation 2025 report, 48% of 25- to 29-year-olds are now in professional occupations, up from 36% a decade ago. More professional jobs exist than ever before. But those from professional backgrounds have captured most of that growth. The gap between those who start with connections and those who start without has not narrowed, it has widened. (Social Mobility Commission, 2025)

“Individuals from professional backgrounds have benefitted more from increased opportunities.”
— Social Mobility Commission, State of the Nation 2025

Where socioeconomic background intersects with race and gender, the disadvantages compound further. Fewer than half of Black and Asian young people were in work pre-pandemic, compared with around two thirds of white young people. (Youth Futures Foundation, 2021) A class pay gap of around £6,000 a year exists for those who do break through into professional roles, a pay gap that compounds with existing ethnicity and gender pay gaps which mean that some people face a double, or triple disadvantage. (Friedman & Laurison, The Class Ceiling, 2019)

The Brokerage works with the young people this system leaves furthest behind. They are state educated, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and the majority are from Black, Asian or other minoritised ethnic communities. 52% have been eligible for free school meals. 58% have parents in lower-paid, insecure work or longer-term unemployment.

In our 2024 Youth Survey, candidates unanimously disagreed with both of these statements: ‘I had family members or friends who could help me learn about these kinds of jobs’ and ‘I had family members or friends who could help me access work experience.’ They simply do not have access to the same networks and support as their better-off peers. (The Brokerage, 2024 Youth Survey)