GARY Neville’s Hotel Football is helping Trafford’s budding entrepreneurs kick-start their careers.

Hotel Football, owned by Manchester United legends Neville and Ryan Giggs, has partnered up with schools in Trafford to run the Young Enterprise Company Programme.

Money raised on match-days will support Young Enterprise from August 2015 to July 2016, which will see Hotel Football staff volunteering their time and experience to help students develop their own businesses or social enterprises.

Each business will last for the academic year and students will be responsible for everything from design concept to selling marketing strategies and financial planning. The programme will culminate in a celebration at the hotel in March 2016.

Gary Neville said: “Hotel Football continues to play an integral role in the local community and encouraging young students to fulfil their potential through the Young Enterprise scheme is a great example of this.

“The hotel’s team will offer their expertise to all participating students and this, coupled with the excellent work Young Enterprise already does, will enable students who enter the scheme to enter the wider world of work with an accomplished set of business-based skills.”

Young Enterprise is the UK’s leading enterprise and financial education charity working with young people. Hotel Football’s focus is on the eight schools in Trafford who have not taken part in Young Enterprise in the past two years, with Blessed Thomas Holford Sixth Form, Sale High, Ashton on Mersey, Flixton Girls School, Lostock College, Broadoak and Wellacre Academy signed up to participate.

In addition to the mentorship, Gary has offered a prize of an unpaid internship awarded to a stand-out student participating in the programme for the summer of 2016. The internship will be in one of the businesses in which he is involved.

Leader of Trafford Council Cllr Sean Anstee said: “We are delighted that Hotel Football is supporting Young Enterprise in Trafford schools. Trafford is one of the best places in the country to start a new business with over 900 businesses starting here in the first half of the year already.

“This support for our young people will undoubtedly help create some of our entrepreneurs of the future and we look forward to seeing some fantastic new business ideas.”