Sky Academy Careers Lab, Sky’s new full-day careers experience for 16 to 19 year olds, will be opened today by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, as part of a visit by their Royal Highnesses to Sky’s redeveloped West London campus in Osterley.

The aim of Sky Academy Careers Lab is to inspire young people to think about possible careers in Media, Technology or Business and to help them build the practical skills they will need in the workplace.  Students will be given hands on experience of life at Sky including working alongside Sky staff on a practical challenge. They will get to interview one of Sky’s senior leaders about working in the industry as well as taking time to match their interests to a possible career.  Around 100 young people every week are expected to visit the facility. 

During their visit, their Royal Highnesses will meet sixth form students from Lampton School in Hounslow,  who will be working  through a Sky Academy Careers Lab challenge.  

Sky Academy Careers Lab is the latest initiative from Sky Academy.  Launched a year ago, Sky Academy uses the power of television, creativity and sport to inspire young people and help give them the skills and confidence they need to prepare them for the world of work. Sky's ambition is to create opportunities for one million young people in the UK and Ireland to build skills and experience by 2020. 

Before they open Sky Academy Careers Lab, Sky Group Chief Executive, Jeremy Darroch, will escort their Royal Highnesses on a tour of the campus. As part of this, they will meet primary school children from Alexandra School in Hounslow at the Sky Academy Skills Studios.  This is a purpose- built facility where, each year, 12,000 school children aged 8 years and up  make their very own news report to bring to life a topic they are studying at school. 

During the visit, their Royal Highnesses will also hear about other ways in which Sky Academy is helping young people. They will meet Sky Academy Scholars, athlete mentors from Sky Sports Living for Sport and graduates and apprentices working at Sky through the Sky Academy Starting Out programme.

Jeremy Darroch, Group Chief Executive, Sky commented: “We are delighted that their Royal Highnesses, who have done so much for young people, will join us today to open Sky Academy Careers Lab. At Sky we want to help young people from all backgrounds develop the skills and confidence they need to prepare them for the world of work.  Our ambition is to engage with up to one million young people through Sky Academy by the end of the decade.”

For further information, please contact:

Sky 

Robin Tozer

Senior Corporate Communications Manager

robin.tozer@bskyb.com

020 7032 0620

Follow us on twitter -  @SkyCorporate and  @SkyAcademy

About Sky Academy

Sky Academy is a series of initiatives using the power of television, creativity and sport to help young people unlock their potential and gain the skills, experience and self-belief they need to prepare them for the world of work. Launched in 2013, Sky’s ambition is to create opportunities for up to one million young people to build skills and experience by 2020.

Headquartered in the Believe in Better Building at the heart of Sky’s West London campus, Sky Academy comprises: Sky Sports Living for Sport, Sky Academy Skills Studios, Sky Academy Careers Lab, Sky Academy Starting Out and Sky Academy Scholarships.

For more information, go to www.sky.com/academy.

About Sky

Sky is Europe’s leading entertainment company. The group serves 20 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.6 billion. The company employs 31,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate.

Accreditation

There will be a Royal Rota in operation on the day to cover the visit by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to Sky.