Two London-based Year-12 students have recently completed a paid work experience placement at global private equity firm, Apax Partners.

Headquartered in London, Apax Partners typically invests in large, billion pound companies in the consumer, healthcare, services, tech & telco sectors.

The week-long placement, facilitated by Mosaic, saw Hobibur Rahman from Bow School in Tower Hamlets and Mahirul Islam from Aylward Academy in Enfield, gain insights into the world of finance and work closely with several key associates from Apax Partners.

Hobibur and Mahirul were chosen for the placements following a competitive selection process in which AS-Level students from 22 London schools applied. Each school is involved in Mosaic’s mentoring programmes, which include the Secondary School programme and Enterprise Challenge.

To be eligible for the placement, applicants had to either be a ‘looked after’ child, qualify for free school meals, live in social housing, come from a household with an income below £25,000 or have refugee or asylum seeker status.

Mahirul said: “It was fantastic to speak with and work alongside real finance professionals. I learnt a great deal over the course of the week, particularly around the procedures involved in large scale equity investment. It was really exciting and I enjoyed it a lot.”

The experience came to an end with the pair presenting the findings of a research project they had undertaken alongside the Tech & Telco sector team.

Jonathan Freeman, Managing Director of Mosaic, added: “Work experience opportunities of this kind can be life-changing for students who, through circumstance, might not otherwise have had the chance to pursue their first choice career path. We’d like to thank Apax Partners for their continued support and I would welcome other organisations to speak to us about how they can get involved.”