An ex-TV publicist, political adviser and now PR boss has called for better representation of working class backgrounds in role models and business leaders across the city region.
Daniel Hughes said that when he was at school in Garston, Liverpool, his careers teacher told him there was no easy route for “children like [him]” to get into professions such as the media or politics - and that he would have to get a “normal job”.
Decades on, and Daniel is running his own PR firm dealing with famous faces across the world from Westminster to Westlife, with experience of running election campaigns for the Labour Party in his 20s, as a special advisor in the shadow cabinet, and working for Channel 4.
Daniel, who announced the rebrand of his previously self-named firm to ThisGeneration in January, said: “I remember telling my careers teacher that I wanted to be a journalist or work in PR.
“They looked at me as though I was mad. They didn’t have the first idea how to break into those professions. They told me there was no easy route for ‘children like you’ to get into the industry, and that I’d have to get a ‘normal job’.
“The vast majority of young people left school at 16. Only a handful of us were encouraged to stay on and do A-levels. Some went to college, others went off and did bricklaying or shop working.
“I’ve got a quite a big family. My brother’s a joiner, for example, and my cousins work in the construction industry. They thought it was a bit funny that I was going to uni.”
Daniel said despite that being almost two decades ago, similar problems remain - and that children from working class backgrounds face a much more difficult task of getting into such industries.
Most Read
“These issues still exist in schools and need to be addressed. It’s schools that, before anything else, need to encourage and motivate young people to tell them they can achieve anything that they want to in life. I was lucky, but things could have gone the other way after the way that careers advisor said those things to me.
“[Issues] became more profound when I became a special advisor to the Shadow Cabinet.
“On my first day I sat around the table with Oxford and Cambridge-educated colleagues. I was the only person there with a northern accent. I think there were just two people from outside of the M25.
“I honestly don’t think most of them understood what life was really like outside of Westminster. It frustrated me and I wanted to change that, so that more working class people were given the chance to do these sort of jobs.
“There’s a big issue in that we don’t see many working class people as executives in the boardroom - nor do we hear or see working class people at the top level of the British media or politics.
“That might be because they look at politicians like Jacob Rees Mogg and don’t feel like they look or sound like him.”
Liverpool City Region Business News
In Daniel’s view, the situation does not appear to be improving.
Don’t miss
“I think there’s a danger of things going backwards. We’ve had nearly a decade of Tory cuts to all sectors including education, and I understand that’s having a big impact on careers advice and training schemes. There's a lot of work to do for sure.”
The issue is not confined to the 海角视频, and is also prevalent in Liverpool, Daniel said.
“It’s a major problem in certain communities. There is no doubt that a lot more work needs to go into addressing social mobility and promoting aspirations of working class young people.
“I would always want working class people to have the best education available to them.
Want more business news straight to your inbox?
BusinessLive is your home for business news from around the country - and you can stay in touch with all the latest news through our email alerts.
You can sign up to receive morning news bulletins from every region we cover and to weekly email bulletins covering key economic sectors from manufacturing to technology and enterprise. And we'll send out breaking news alerts for any stories we think you can't miss.
Visit our email preference centre to sign up to all the latest news from BusinessLive.
“It’s an achievement to go to university, and they should open the doors to have more people from working class background there.
“I’d like to see a more level playing field so that all young people have the same opportunities and the same education.
“I don’t believe in grammar or private schools. We all deserve the same start in life, so there needs to be a big investment in education.”
That, said Daniel, 35, could mean more collaboration between members of Liverpool’s business community and local schools and colleges.
“If they have got success stories, then they should be invited into schools as part of a wider initiative to motivate and inspire working class young people.”
Daniel said he thought that the Liverpool community was “generally diverse”, but added: “We need to do more to reflect the city's diversity in the big businesses in media and in politics. There aren’t enough BAME city councillors, for example.”
ThisGeneration
In January, Daniel announced the rebrand of his firm to ThisGeneration, a name he said “better encapsulates the key functions of the agency”.
“ThisGeneration represents everything we do in terms of generating powerful reputations, generating influence and generating connections.
“The rebrand better reflects what we do. ThisGeneration is a modern, forward-thinking agency with a creative team that has a proven track record of delivering results for a broad client portfolio. We are known for delivering campaigns that cut through and get people talking in the right way,” he said.
The agency was originally started by Daniel in 2014, and operates across the North West and London.
Clients include Heritage Great Britain, Square Peg Media, Ion Developments, Legacie Group, and ESE Energy - one of Britain’s biggest suppliers of solar energy.
The agency led the PR campaign for Westlife’s pop comeback in 2019, and has managed celebrity profiles including football star Jamie Carragher, Kelly Osbourne and Louis Walsh.
Speaking about what lies ahead for 2020, Daniel explained: “2020 is going to be a big year for ThisGeneration. We’ve appointed new members to the team and we are working on a number of high profile new campaigns.
“People come to us because we are good at what we do, we deliver and we are ambitious for everyone we work with. This is an exciting new chapter.”