Reed, the recruitment company, has named the first five winners of its All About Business Entrepreneurs Fund, with each young founder receiving a £20,000 grant alongside mentoring and business support.

The winners were announced on 26 August at the London head office of Reed in Partnership on Rushworth Street, immediately after the finalists pitched to a judging panel. The panel comprised James Reed, Reed Group chief financial officer Lewis Crowther, chief customer officer Jennifer May and independent non-executive director Adrian Moorhouse MBE, the Olympic gold medallist.

The fund was launched in May to mark Reed’s 66th anniversary and will support 66 young entrepreneurs over the coming years. It takes its name from James Reed’s weekly podcast, all about business, on which he interviews founders, business leaders and philanthropists.

Reed said the fund honours its founder Sir Alec Reed, who started the company in 1960 at the age of 26 with £75.

Reed set the fund against a difficult jobs market for young people. The company said more than one million 16 to 24 year olds in the UK are not in employment, education or training, and that youth unemployment has reached 16.2 per cent.

There were 707,000 vacancies in May to July 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics, the lowest level outside the pandemic since 2014. Reed said graduate vacancies advertised on its Reed.co.uk site have fallen from around 180,000 four years ago to about 50,000.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has separately warned that youth employment is sliding back towards Covid-era lows.

James Reed, chairman and chief executive of Reed, said: “With more than one million young people not in education, employment or training, it is clear that the next generation is facing serious barriers to success.

“We need strong routes into employment, apprenticeships and university, but we also need to back young people to create work for themselves and for others.”

He added: “Watching these five founders pitch their businesses reminded me exactly what is possible when ambition meets opportunity. They are already trading, already serving customers, and already creating opportunities for other young people.”

Khamani Edwards, 19, is the sole founder of KJ’s Craft Time, a children’s brand selling inclusive, curriculum-linked craft boxes. Edwards, who was born with Dystonia, a condition affecting grip and mobility, builds adaptive tools into every box as standard and serves families and schools across the UK. He said the funding “will accelerate our next phase of growth: launching our subscription box and bringing inclusive, educational craft to even more families across the UK.”

Kanoj Vora, 27, co-founded Prospect AI in 2023 as an AI revenue engine for B2B sales teams. Vora, who was 26 when he applied, taught himself machine learning and part-funded the business from his student loan. He said Reed’s backing “means the world to us as we, at Prospect AI, aspire to build a business that can redefine trust in B2B sales.”

Tia Collard, 23, started fiftyminds in 2023, aged 20, to help small and medium-sized businesses with AI, automation and systems. The South West business has served more than 80 clients, employs 11 people and has been profitable since day one, according to Reed. Collard said the grant would allow the company “to invest in training and hiring graduates and young talent within our team.”

Precious Adu, 23, founded The Tech UK, a London nail studio, in July 2024 after studying accounting and finance at university. She is developing an academy to teach school leavers how to build a career from a trade. “This grant lets me build the academy that does,” she said.

Paul Wilson, 23, founded Glasgow digital marketing consultancy Consultico in 2024, aged 21, after recovering from an operation. The business has served more than 20 paying clients and given paid work or placements to more than seven students. Wilson said: “Winning has reignited my passion for my business and my desire to grow it into something fantastic.”

Other corporate schemes aimed at young founders include eBay’s £10,000 Up & Running grants, for which applications close on 30 October.

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