Laurie South
Chief Executive, PRIME, Opportunity & Enterprise
Hi, I'm Laurie and I'm the Chief Executive of PRIME. At 50, you now have at least one-third of your life left – and it should be the best third. But did you know that of the nine million people aged between 50 and state pension age, one in three is workless and one in seven is on incapacity benefit? Worse, the chance of finding a firm willing to take you on as an employee if you become redundant after the age of 50 is slight – as bad as one in ten.
That’s where PRIME comes in: helping people over 50 start their own businesses. Self-employment lets you sidestep many of the problems of age discrimination that still exist in the conventional job market. Working for yourself offers a route back to financial independence, and can bring new dignity and purpose and restore your hopes and dreams.
As well as providing practical help, PRIME campaigns to change the culture and the policies that simply forget the needs of the over 50s in the world of work. The number of over 50s is growing. We are living longer and need a livelihood for far longer than our parents and grandparents did.
Watching people over 50 starting their own businesses – something many of them never expected to do - and blossom as Olderpreneurs, is one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. So you can see why I am so passionate about what I do!
