Lord Young Speaker at MADE festival for Entrepreneurs Sheffield

Lord Young of Graffham

Enterprise advisor to the Prime Minister

Lord Young is a retired British Conservative politician and businessman. He is the elder son of a businessman who imported flour and later set up as a manufacturer of coats for children.

He went to Christ's College in Finchley and then University College London to take a law degree as an evening student during his time as an articled clerk to become a solicitor, being admitted to the roll of solicitors in 1955. However, he only practised for a year, after which he joined the Great Universal Stores as an executive and an assistant to the chairman, Sir Isaac Wolfson Bt.

He entered Parliament in 1975 as a Conservative Member of Parliament. During his parliamentary career, Lord Young served as the Secretary of State for Employment and as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry during the eighties.

After the 1987 election where he had a key role, he became Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade. He retired from government in July 1989, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Party until June 1990. That year also saw the publication of his book The Enterprise Years.
Lord Young founded Young Associates, a private equity house in 1996 where he is currently chairman. He is also chairman of a number of companies on AIM, enterprise advisor to the Prime Minister and the pioneer of the StartUp Loan scheme.

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