Richard Thomas OBE, the CEO of Gatehouse Bank, led a group of 15 senior business leaders on a visit this week to look at the issues faced by young people growing up in deprived areas and what Mosaic is doing to help them.

The ‘Seeing is Believing’ day, organised by Mosaic, welcomed senior executives from companies including Petrofac, Hogan Lovells LLP, Etihad Airways and Caretech Plc.

Their busy day began at Westminster City School, where the delegates were joined by government minister Nick Boles MP to launch the fifth annual Apax-Mosaic Enterprise Challenge. Young people demonstrated the Enterprise Challenge game, and the winners of the 2011/12 Enterprise Challenge from Southfields Academy performed their winning business pitch.

The business leaders were then taken to Mansion House where they were met with The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor, Roger Gifford. Although very busy in his first week of office, the Lord Mayor made time welcome the business leaders and some of Mosaic’s experienced mentors to Mansion House for a discussion about the vital role businesses can play in supporting communities.

Many of Mosaic’s mentors work in the City of London and are supported by their employers to take the time to volunteer with our young people. They find that mentoring is not only rewarding for the students but that it offers huge personal development for the mentors themselves.

If you are a successful businessman or woman and you would like to mentor young people in deprived communities near you, please get in touch – we are actively recruiting more mentors and we would love to hear from you.

Gatehouse Bank is a wholesale Shariah compliant investment bank based in the City of London. Richard Thomas, CEO of Gatehouse Bank said: “The theme of Global Entrepreneurship Week is ‘Pass It On’ and the roundtable discussion will focus on how the business community can play an essential role in tackling some of Britain’s most pressing social issues. As a Shariah compliant bank, our entire business model runs on the principles of ethical banking, and supporting social responsibility programmes is a core part of our corporate objective. This is a fantastic initiative, and I’m keen to encourage other leaders to join the programme. In particular, the roundtable discussion will give us the opportunity to pass on our business knowledge to each other and discuss how young people most need our support and encouragement.”