‘It’s not where you’re from that counts, it’s where you’re going’

Clayton Planter is in a buoyant mood after a meeting with the probation service to finalise a new working partnership.

“In the beginning, the corporate and public sector didn’t want to work with me at all,” he confides with a grin.

The social entrepreneur founded Street2Boardroom in 2016 to open up opportunities for ex-offenders and people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are being failed by a system that doesn’t allow them to reach their full potential.

Now, doors open for Clayton, who has partnered with Opus Talent Solutions and Frederick’s Foundation, and works with organisations, including the police and probation services.

Sitting in jeans and trainers, sipping a sparkling apple juice, he is not your average businessman and that’s the whole point – clothes and backgrounds should not act as barriers to success and enabling people to achieve their potential.

“We have just launched a £50,000 crowdfunder to make the business sustainable – we want to make Street2Boardroom a franchise model,” Clayton announces with another wide smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_18U9D0TN4

But it hasn’t been easy for the 36-year-old, who grew up in St Paul’s and went to secondary school in Filton, where he was head boy. After leaving school, he quickly realised that opportunities just weren’t available to him and he struggled to get paid employment.

“I got frustrated because I wasn’t involved in crime, but I could not get any paid jobs,” he recalls.

“A lot of my friends did take to drug dealing. I thought about doing the same, because I was there saying to them ‘no that’s wrong’, but then I could not find a job because there was no opportunity.”

Always one to break the status quo, Clayton decided something had to change. He realised that the skills needed by drug dealers were actually not so different to those required to achieve in the in the legal, corporate world.

It was just a case of ‘learning the legal hustle’.

Clayton grew up in St Paul’s and saw a lot of his friends turn to crime

Inspired by a drive to help people, he developed a business model that involved giving those heading for a life of crime the skills, knowledge and confidence to apply what they have learned from the street

He started Street2Boardroom from his council flat and has since made national headlines with the social enterprise.

“The great thing about it is we have changed the status quo,” he says.

Claytom teamed up with Bristol entrepreneur Darren Ryemill, of Opus Talent Solutions, after being spotted giving a TEDX talk and is now officially shaking things up in the corporate world.

He has also approached UWE Bristol‘s gaming department, where students are now working on creating a Street2Boardroom board game. There are also plans afoot to develop an app and even a TV series.

With Opus Talent Solutions, who offer mentoring and job opportunities and pay for placements, Street2Boardroom can help people break into a number of sectors – whether this be the boardroom of a corporate firm, the music industry or another chosen field.

Frederick’s Foundation help by providing loans – from £2,500 to £35,000 – for ex-offenders to become fledgling entrepreneurs and to make a significant difference to their lives.

“I believe that if people have talent, they have talent,” says Clayton, adding: “In some cases  a person with a criminal record is more likely to be loyal if we give them the opportunity.”

It is this belief in people that has been the catalyst of his success.

Read more: Bristol City Council bans the box to remove barriers for people with criminal convictions