Retailer Marks & Spencer yesterday announced it was launching a second wave of a scheme to offer job placements to youngsters in Norwich.

The firm which this year signed up to the Norwich for Jobs campaign aimed at cutting youth unemployment in and around the city, teamed up with the Princes Trust in July to set up its Make your Mark scheme, is now offering a further 16 places.

Previous candidates were all offered jobs under the scheme after completing an eight week work experience placement.

The programme offers on-the-job training and a mentoring programme to address the gap in skills and experience among 16 to 24 year olds which can often prevent them from finding work.

Norfolk was one of 42 areas across the UK to run the latest wave of the programme.

Mark Robertson, store manager at M&S Norwich, said: 'There are hundreds of thousands of young people across the UK struggling to find work and we're extremely proud to be helping to support some of those through the Make Your Mark programme. We hope to make a real and lasting impact on the lives of the young people coming through the programme at M&S Norwich.'

Make Your Mark will have three intakes throughout the year at M&S stores across the UK. It kicked off with its first intake this July, with the next session starting this month.

The final session will run in February 2014. The programme is targeted for anyone aged 16 - 24 who is not in any education or training at all or for less than 12 hours a week, and not in employment at all or in employment for less than 16 hours a week.

Anyone interested in opportunities with Make Your Mark or Marks & Start can visit http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/makeyourmark for specific information about either programme.

For suppliers looking to understand what they can do to address youth unemployment, further information can be found on the BITC website.