Pathway Bond Helping Borough's Youth Connect with Local Industry
Providing opportunities in science, technology and media
Ely Hyman from West London Free School on work experience. Picture: H&F Council
February 27, 2026
The challenges facing young people entering the workforce or planning their future career paths are huge, and only appear to be growing.
While new and developing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) promise significant benefits, the expected disruption is eliciting widespread concern, in particular for those yet to enter the world of work.
In an effort to support its young residents and prepare them for careers in the industries of the future, Hammersmith and Fulham Council in last year launched a new initiative dubbed the Pathway Bond.
Part of the next phase of the local authority’s industrial strategy, Upstream London, the Pathway Bond links young people with opportunities in STEM3 industries such as science, technology and media.
These can be via work placements though the programme also organises interactive events, skills and career advice and mentoring programmes.
The scheme, which has received praise from Government and is being looked at to potentially roll out nationwide, currently has more than 100 companies signed up, from L’Oreal and Novartis to the BBC.
The sell to businesses, according to the Pathway Bond website, is it provides them with “a simple way to inspire the next generation, build a skilled local workforce, and showcase the exciting careers they offer”.
Ely Hyman, a sixth-former at the West London Free School, is among those to have spent a week on work placement through the Pathway Bond.
Mr Hyman, 16, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he first came across the initiative while at a separate event.
The Pathway Bond team were able to set him up with a series of placements with cutting-edge companies headquartered in the White City Innovation District, namely Sequoia Genetics, Biome Technologies and Fresh Canvas.
Mr Hyman, who has a particular passion for engineering, said the principal value of the week was the time spent with people already working in industries relevant to his interests.
“It was great. I saw a good range of companies, I met lots of people, and it helped me figure out what parts of it I found most interesting.”
He added the council organising the placement brought with it a sense of “credibility”, which most young people looking for work experience would lack.
“I think it was the placement being through the council which meant I was able to spend a bit of time with so many different companies,” he said.
On his biggest takeaways, Mr Hyman said: “I managed to make connections, meet and experience a lot of different things and different types of work. Which I think a lot of people, even if they get a good work experience placement…you often miss out on that breadth of experience. I think it was really valuable in that way.”
The Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, Stephen Cowan, has been touring schools across the borough to talk about the Pathway Bond.
He told the LDRS: “With the world changing faster than ever before because of new technologies and AI, we are determined that young people in Hammersmith and Fulham get the best opportunities in the industries of the future.
“Our new Pathway Bond does just that. It rewards ambition rather than privilege and empowers all our amazing young people – whatever their background – to help shape their own future.
“In recent weeks, speaking to hundreds of students across the borough’s secondary schools, I have been deeply struck at how much this chimes with their own aspirations. I’m particularly grateful to the army of businesses in the borough who have signed up to the Pathway Bond to help turn those aspirations into reality.”
Hammersmith and Fulham Council launched its Upstream London strategy in 2017 in partnership with Imperial College London.
In a recent editorial for The Standard Cllr Cowan wrote the initiative has transformed White City “into one of the most dynamic innovation districts in Europe, helping attract £6billion in high-growth business investment and create over 17,000 skilled jobs since 2017”.
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter