Widening the Register – Tech London 500
Posted by Kay on October 3rd, 2015
Great event on 29th September 2015 on the top floor of the Mayor’s City Hall with fabulous views and bright lights over London and Tower Bridge, celebrating the launch of Tech London 500 – it’s an initiative to help businesses interested in taking on ambitious IT and Digital Apprentices across the Capital. It’s backed by the Mayor, Creative Skillset and Tech London Advocates.
I run a small business myself, so anything that takes you away from that must be very worthwhile – so I know that taking on Apprentices, however good and expedient for your business, takes time and effort and therefore it needs to be made as simple and easy as possible.
And, as I found out, this is exactly what the people behind the initiative will be taking on. There’s a powerful cross-sector consortium of some major training providers and organisations with many years of experience in delivery and they really are there to help facilitate the process. Not only did I discover that there is help on hand to find the right person/fit for your organization but they would also help uncover any extra funds that could help to assist companies that have never had an apprentice before. Some organisations have already benefited from the addition of apprentices and they – certainly from last night’s event – have found an enormous benefit when the right person, with fresh ideas and a different perspective and approach is added to the business mix. Comments such as ‘raised the bar for the whole department’ or ‘energised the work’ or ‘much needed input from the point of view of someone younger that has grown up with internet technologies at the heart of their lives.’
As chair of the CreativeTech group of Tech London Advocates (www.techlondonadvocates.org.uk) I was delighted at the response – our group comprises creative professionals from this major sector (Design, Advertising, Marketing, Media, Film, TV, Film, Fashion, VFX, Games, Publishing etc.), and were keen to get involved, making sure employers across their networks were aware of this important event and would consider taking on apprentices themselves.
The event managed to attract one of the UK’s most sought after speakers – the inspirational Maggie Philbin of Teen Tech and Tomorrow’s World – someone who champions young people across the country to do well in today’s tech industry.
Anyway good luck Tech London 500! – it’s great to know that help is at hand – and there’s still time for other businesses to get involved too.
