Cultivating future talent

Mar 11 2010 by Jackie Boyd, The Journal

WHILE the South East of England might boast Kew Gardens and the Chelsea Flower Show, the North East is planting seeds not in flowerbeds, but in real people and businesses.

The North East is a hot-bed of creative talent and businesses. Look up to the skyline, beyond the Angel and you will see the blossoming of creative digital companies. The games industry in particular is thriving in the North East with major global players such as Ubisoft and Eutechnyx having burgeoning quadrants of talent working on visually stunning games.

But even behemoth companies and the sapling digital agencies need to cultivate talent for the future, to see them beyond the current economic winter. So they have adopted an approach to nurturing talent familiar to horticulturists and hobby gardeners, by seeding young talent through dedicated placement programmes.

The Digital Placement Programme has been offering graduate placements since 2004. It is funded by One North East and the European Regional Development Fund with the objective of attracting, retaining and developing our region’s digital talent.

Since its inception, the Digital Placement Programme has successfully placed more than 450 students and graduates in digital businesses. What is more mouth-watering is that more than 85% of graduates have gone on to secure permanent roles at the end of the placement. Yesterday’s green shoots will be tomorrow’s evergreen talents for sure.

The scheme offers a range of short-term and long-term placements and is the only placement programme in the region specifically tailored for the digital sector.

Digital businesses in the North East really appreciate the visionary approach embodied by the programme. Julian Leighton of Orange Bus provides proof.

He says: “The Codeworks placement scheme has been invaluable to Orange Bus during our expansion phase, allowing us to take on new graduates with far less risk attached thanks to the financial help provided – and we certainly feel our growing pains have been eased significantly”.

Codeworks, a support network for digital businesses in the North East region, also deliver a range of events throughout the year, inspiring students, graduates and entrepreneurs to consider a career within the digital sector. Their annual conference, Thinking Digital: The Next Generation, takes place at the Sage Gateshead on March 17.

So put down the shears, wipe the sweat from your brow and admire our digital landscape. Its future is blooming marvellous.

Jackie Boyd is digital skills executive at Codeworks