For the first time, visual arts charity The Art House, is partnering with Quayside MediaCity to provide opportunities for artists, collectives and social enterprises within the local community to grow their fledgling business or community initiative within a retail environment.
The project, Salford Loading…, produced by The Art House, together with community partners, will help to facilitate the abundance of talent and creativity within Salford and surrounding areas for both community and commercial use.
The project has been kick started by Nicola Fernandes, who set up pop-up gift shop Flock and Gaggle which showcases local makers and artists and will also work with Quayside and the wider creative community to co-ordinate Salford Loading…
Nicola from Flock and Gaggle at Quayside MediaCityUK Shopping has moved into a bigger shop after the success of her pop up shop
Nicola, who is also plugged into the local creative community through running her store and artist studio in Salford’s Islington Mill, said: “During challenging times, it’s vital creatives and communities still have the opportunity to grow and supporting local has never been more important. By collaborating with Quayside in this way, we want to create a new kind of ecosystem which sees spaces used in a cycle of both local and commercial use, benefiting everyone who takes part.”
Kelly Hurst, Centre Manager for Quayside added: “This is an exciting, new concept for us to adopt which will reinvigorate space within Quayside, support the community but also help in its steady evolution as a town centre provision for those who live and work within MediaCity and The Quays.”
Lucy Norton, Project Coordinator at The Art House said: “The Salford Loading project is dedicated to creating attainable opportunities for creatives and supporting communities and we’re delighted to be working with the Quayside team in making connections across Salford, collaborating with more artists, organisations and charities than ever before.”
The Salford Loading initiative builds on the success of two projects last year which saw the Manchester Fashion Movement deliver its unique concept store celebrating new, sustainable and independent brands with an inclusive space for events as well as Oakwood Academy’s charity store.
The store is entirely run by pupils from the MediaCity based sixth form college which supports pupils with additional needs.
Find out more about The Salford Loading project and spaces available here today.
Narinder Sandher has been promoted to partner at accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers within the firm’s risk, audit, assurance and advisory team.
Narinder joined Beever and Struthers as director in 2019 and has been instrumental in the growth and diversification of the firm’s internal audit and consulting services across the social housing, charity, and education sectors.
He also established an IT audit team which provides specialist IT audit services across the public, not for profit and commercial sectors.
Following an increase in income and enjoying ongoing growth, the not-for-profit division at Beever and Struthers, including risk, audit, assurance and advisory, now consists of 90 dedicated colleagues delivering a wide range of services tailored to clients.
Narinder said: “I’m delighted to be a part of such a dynamic firm. I’m proud to work with a dedicated and professional team able to deliver such outstanding client service resulting in a huge range of new opportunities for the firm”.
Maria Hallows, head of social housing and executive partner at Beever and Struthers, said: “We are thrilled that Narinder is a Partner with the firm, and this is testament to the hard work put in by him and our team.
“We continue to be very proud of our reputation and standing within the social housing sector, and promoting Narinder to Partner reflects our continuing investment in the sector built on delivering a first-class service to our clients.
“We continue to invest in the future of our firm, and Narinder has been instrumental in helping us deliver consistent performance across our locations.”
Formed more than 100 years ago, accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers have a strong not-for-profit reputation based on the provision of high quality, tailored services to the UK social housing sector.
The firm is one of the UK’s leading independent accountancy practices with offices in Manchester, London, Birmingham, and Blackburn.
Among its core strengths is a substantial not-for-profit division that ranks second as a provider of audit and assurance services to many of the leading UK private registered providers.
Beever and Struthers is a member of HLB International, a dynamic network of independent professional accounting firms and business advisors. HLB International is a leading global network comprising locally well-established member firms which mostly rank among the Top 12 nationally. HLB International is present in 157 countries, with almost 40,000 staff and partners in 1,030-member firm offices worldwide.
Brooks Macdonald, a leading investment manager with £16.2 billion in funds under management, is delighted to announce a trio of appointments in its senior team. These appointments demonstrate the Group’s continued ability to attract and retain the best talent in the industry.
Leanne Barnham will shortly be joining Brooks Macdonald in the newly created Global Head of Marketing role. Reporting to Sarah Ackland, Global Head of Distribution & Marketing, Leanne will be responsible for driving the marketing strategy and execution, supporting Brooks Macdonald’s medium term ambition to become a top five wealth manager within the UK and Crown Dependencies. Leanne has more than 15 years in investment management and brings a deep knowledge of marketing in the sector. She joins from Ninety One where she was Head of UK Marketing. She was previously Global Head of Marketing with Architas Multi-Manager and, in addition, has held marketing roles at several investment management houses.
Leanne Barnham.
Sarah Ackland, Global Head of Distribution & Marketing at Brooks Macdonald, said: “Leanne’s experience and proven industry expertise make her a perfect fit to lead the marketing team as we move into our next phase of growth. I am very much looking forward to working with Leanne to continue to drive forward the firm’s proposition.”
Andrew Bennie and Rachael Marsden have been appointed as the Heads of Investment Management for Manchester and Leeds, respectively. These appointments recognise the important role that Andrew and Rachael have played as part of the Manchester and Leeds teams. Andrew has been a part of Brooks Macdonald for 13 years and last year was promoted to Senior Investment Director. He has a demonstrated history of managing bespoke investment portfolios on behalf of a range of private clients. Rachael joined Brooks Macdonald in 2019 and was promoted to Senior Investment Director last year. She has more than 15 years’ experience in managing portfolios for advisers, private clients, charities, companies, trusts and pensions.
Rahael Marsden,Andrew Bennie.
Robin Eggar, Managing Director, Head of UK Investment Management (UKIM) noted: “These appointments reflect the group’s ambitious growth targets and desire to provide outstanding service to our clients and intermediaries. Looking forward, I am excited by the opportunity to continue working closely with Andrew and Rachael to build on our history of success in the North West and Yorkshire regions.”
Northcoders – one of the UK’s leading independent providers of training programmes for software coding and data engineering – has successfully delivered a tailored 14-week software development programme to KPMG’s new 19-strong Technology Engineering Graduate intake. This is the first time the two companies have collaborated.
As KPMG’s onboarding partner, Northcoders curated the bespoke programme that covered the core fundamentals of building websites and mobile phone apps as well as a specific module on CloudOps.
The core aim was to upskill the graduates and improve their tech capabilities before they are deployed and start working with the firm’s clients across the UK. The three year-long blended KPMG Technology Engineering Graduate Programme is designed to support graduates on their journeys for a successful career in technology. They have opportunities to learn and develop a wide range of hands-on technical skills and to help deliver successful outcomes for clients.
The Northcoders x KPMG course curriculum built their confidence with JavaScript laying the foundations for them to be able to handle data and create interactive websites and apps, utilising their newly found semantic HTML and responsive CSS skills. It then moved on to give them an understanding of test-driven and object-oriented development, using Node.js to run code for the back end, and focus on dealing with asynchronous programming as well as APIs, databases and SQL and CloudOps.
The latter part of the onboarding academy then moved into UX design and React, the most in-demand front-end frameworks, which they used to create entire complex front-ends for their website and app projects. The final project phase consolidated all that they had learned and saw groups work together to create a completed app which they showcased at their graduation.
Amul Batra – chief operating officer at Northcoders – said: “We were delighted to work with KPMG as their onboarding partner and help them achieve both their people development and business goals. The firm’s Technology Engineering Graduate Programme is a truly innovative scheme that is all about helping the best people build lasting careers in the tech sector. That aligns perfectly with we what we are trying to achieve as business. We are really looking forward to now seeing the KPMG x Northcoders cohort flourish as they forge ahead in their chosen specialisms.”
Yasmin De Nardo – Head of Connected Technology Academy at KPMG – added: “It has been fantastic working with Northcoders over the past few months and to see the entire cohort graduate. The KPMG x Northcoders programme’s varied curriculum has advanced each person’s tech capabilities and given them new, valuable skills which they can apply to their roles within the business. That is something to celebrate as we continue to inspire, educate and empower young tech talent.”
Council’s executive are voting next week (Wed 15th Feb) on whether to dispose of the former Chorlton Leisure Centre site for affordable housing.
Subject to securing an appropriate planning consent, the site will be transferred to the housing provider Mosscare St Vincents (MSV) on a 999 year lease after they were chosen as the successful bidder for the site following a tender process in 2021.
Initial proposals for the site – subject to consultation and the planning process – would be to demolish the existing buildings to create 50 new highly sustainable affordable apartments, each built to modern energy efficiency standards in both fabric and construction.
View from Manchester Road North.
The scheme would target over 55s, creating quality housing options for Manchester people later in life, with a mix of 40 affordable rent homes, seven for shared ownership, and three properties that would be used by the Council’s Adult Social Care team for neighbourhood apartments.
The homes being used by the Council’s Adult Social Care team will provide accommodation for people who are well enough to be discharged from hospital, but still require some care before they can return home.
Each of the homes would be built to the HAPPI design principles, which means they will have large windows for natural light, designed to be spacious inside and can be adapted to meet the care needs of future residents – alongside a sustainable design.
Sustainable features will include Mechanical Vent Heat Recovery Systems (MVHR) and Air Source Heat pumps (no gas supply), alongside energy efficient appliances. The building design itself will aim to maximise the capture and use of daylight and passive solar energy, whilst avoiding excessive solar gain in summer.
A travel plan for the development will encourage active travel options, ample bicycle storage will be available to residents along with electric vehicle (EV) charging. This is alongside Chorlton’s excellent public transport connections to the city centre, Wythenshawe and the airport.
The site is expected to transfer formally to MSV in the summer of 2023 and a public consultation will be held around the proposals for the site in the coming weeks.
Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development,said:
“We have had ambitions to bring affordable housing to this site in Chorlton for some years and so it’s a real milestone moment that we can approve the transfer of the site to MSV to then begin a public consultation for affordable housing in this key location.
“MSV have a tested record of delivering brilliant, high quality and highly sustainable homes for older people – most recently at Bowes House in Moss Side. This development will create housing options for older people who may want to move from larger family homes – or ‘rightsizing’ – which will in turn open up these larger homes for other families to settle.
“The Council could have had received a higher value return if we decided to sell this site to a private developer on the open market, but we have made a commitment to increasing the number of affordable homes for Manchester people, particularly in areas like Chorlton where we have an opportunity to create more diversity in the housing market.”
Charlie Norman, CEO for MSV, said:
“It’s fantastic news that the land transfer to MSV is underway and I’d like to thank our partners at Manchester City Council for their support. This is exactly the kind of investment we need in Manchester – 50 Later Living apartments for affordable rent, shared ownership and for people coming out of hospital and back into the community.
“The development is aimed at people in Chorlton and the local area and will play a significant part in freeing up larger family homes to those on the waiting list. We plan to deliver a beautiful, bright and modern scheme with lots of light and space to provide residents with a home suitable for their time in life. It’s very exciting to see this project get off the ground.”
Winners of this year’s Manchester Hoteliers’ Association (MHA) Awards have been announced during an awards night attended by more than 600 people on Friday evening (10th February 2023).
Ten prestigious awards, including Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality, were given out at Vermillion in Manchester as the region’s hospitality industry toasted to the year just gone.
The winners of the 2023 Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Awards 8
Johan Scheepers, of Kimpton Clocktower, landed the Mentor of the Year accolade sponsored by Matthew Clark, while Outstanding Contribution Award, sponsored by UKGlobal, went to Susan Hough at The Midland Hotel. Back of House Customer Service, sponsored by The Big Orange Cleaning Company, was taken home by Julie Rogers from The Lowry Hotel, while the Rising Star, sponsored by Manchester Metropolitan University, went to AJ Ross-Jones, from Best Western Cresta Court Hotel.
Dakota Hotel took home both the Bright Idea sponsored by MINT People and Top Team sponsored by Stephensons, as well as Pino Lombardo from Dakota Hotel winning Front of House Customer Service sponsored by Expedia.
Sustainable Hotel sponsored by Uber for Business – a new category introduced this year, was won by Manchester Marriott V&A Hotel, while Young Chef of the Year sponsored by Caterer.com was taken home by Keenan Lawrence from The Edwardian Manchester.
Nathanial Farrell of Clayton Hotel Manchester City Centre also took home the Unsung Hero Award sponsored by Polkadot.
Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Chair Adrian Ellis congratulated all shortlisted, winners and attendees of the evening for ‘another fantastic spectacle’ and wished all the best for the rest of 2023.
He said: “The calibre of entries this year was once again extremely strong and took the judges three days to come to a final decision, which is a testament to the fantastic talent we have here in Manchester’s hospitality industry.
“We had a great evening celebrating another brilliant but challenging 12 months for the industry and I wish all the best for the rest of the year.”
Paul Cook, Managing Director at UKGlobal – Headline Sponsor of this years’ MHA Ball said: “UKGlobal Insurance Brokers are both privileged and proud to have been the headline sponsor for this year’s MHA Awards & Ball. The great awareness and support this brings to local charities aligns with our own company values which is one of the key reasons we wanted to contribute to the event. We very much look forward to supporting the MHA and its members for years to come.”
Cathryn O’Grady, MHA event organiser commented: “We would like to thank all the partners who supported the event this year. In addition, to the sponsors mentioned above we must thank Anita Ryan, Ice Entertainment, Simon Wood, Springbank, The Pull, Vermilion, Vision Events and all of our food partners.
“Together we have raised over £40,000 for MHA’s chosen charities including Hospitality Action, Mustard Tree, Wood Street Mission and MIND Manchester.”
The winners of the 2023 Manchester Hoteliers’ Association Awards 9
Manchester Hoteliers’ Association 18th Annual Ball and Awards Winners 2023
Back of House Customer Service sponsored by The Big Orange Cleaning Company
Julie Rogers, The Lowry Hotel
Bright Idea sponsored by MINT People
Dakota Hotel Marketing Team
Front of House Customer Service sponsored by Expedia
Pino Lombardo, Dakota Hotel Manchester
Mentor of the Year sponsored by Matthew Clark
Johan Scheepers, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel
Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality sponsored by UKGlobal
Susan Hough, The Midland Hotel
Rising Star sponsored by Manchester Metropolitan University
AJ Ross-Jones, Best Western Cresta Court Hotel
Sustainable Hotel sponsored by Uber for Business
Manchester Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel
Top Team sponsored by Stephensons
Dakota Manchester Team
Unsung Hero sponsored by Polkadot Design & Print
Nathanial Farrell, Clayton Hotel Manchester City Centre
Innovative cyber security experts from three regions have joined forces in the North to address the lack of investment and development.
Cyber security is a necessity across every business and the high-growth sector is on an upward trajectory with annual cyber security revenue in the UK now estimated at a huge £10.1 billion, an increase of 14% in the last year alone. However, when it comes to the North/South divide the statistics are a cybercrime in themselves with recent statistics citing cyber security investment in the southern regions accumulated to £982.4 million, falling very short was the Northern regions with just £8 million investment.
With a clear mission to facilitate and level up the divide three cyber security clusters in the North – North West Cyber Security Cluster, Yorkshire Cyber Security Cluster and CyberNorth have come together with UKC3 in commissioning the Northern Cyber Clusters Collaboration project, with the aim to better understand cyber security assets and key cyber security players in the Northern regions, and to develop ways for them to work together to increase visibility and to elevate growth and opportunities in the sector.
The cyber security threat and landscape is always evolving, and attacks are becoming more prevalent and sophisticated, with data breaches and hacks affecting everything from retail to healthcare to finance. Recent research cited that cyber attacks on UK organisations surged by 77% in 2002, with the UK education sector alone seeing a 257% increase in attacks compared to 2021.
There are approximately 1,800 firms within the UK providing cyber security products and services, and 52,700 people employed full-time in cyber security related roles. Unfortunately, though the statistics expose that the sector is not growing at the same rate across the country, with the North severely underrepresented.
Through the collaboration, the clusters are seeking to understand what can be done to create strong ties, develop relationships and nurture collaboration that will see individuals, organisations, communities, sectors and the economy throughout the North of England benefit. Through a digital survey and a series of events in Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and in cities in the North East and Yorkshire the team will gather insight in a move to facilitate a stronger force on the ground in the North.
Paul Boardman, Director, North West Cyber Security Cluster added:
“This collaborative campaign is vital to drive growth and development in the Northern regions. We already have some key players working in our regions – we now need to work together to maximise the opportunities that come in, whilst making sure that the opportunities that are already here stay.”
Through the survey (which is now live) and the regional events the Northern Cyber Clusters’ Collaboration project aims to gather key contributions from cyber security organisations, communities and professionals to find out what they want out of the cluster collaboration across the North of England, and how they see the clusters progressing in the future.
The cyber security industry continues to be one of the fastest growing economies in the UK, and in the North, there is the drive to grow the sector across the regions and to position the North as a great and safe place to access cyber security expertise, with a host of key organisations such as NEBRC, Universities, Mayoral authorities, Space and Satellite Applications and Offshore Renewables Energy Centre pushing a united profile. Key players in the Northern regions include GCHQ and DiSH which shows the capacity and opportunity to further develop and increase visibility of the sector in the North.
The employment market continues to be a talking point in 2023, especially in terms of recruiting and retaining talent in the regions. The Southern regions of South West, London and South East have an estimated 53% of UK based cyber security employment, while the Northern regions North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, and North East have just 16%. Plus, the average advertised salaries for cyber security roles in the Southern regions are £11,500 higher than in the Northern regions (£62,500 versus £51,000).
The UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration exists to support Cyber Clusters in their mission to drive economic growth in the sector. This is done through funding and by enabling opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange, sharing of best practice, and identification of opportunities for regional and ultimately national growth. As a national body, the UKC3 works across public, private sectors, and academia and provides a single entity for organisations wishing to engage with the UK Cyber Cluster community.
Paul Boardman.
Linda Smith, UKC3 Chair, UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration said:
“We welcome this collaborative and focussed initiative to tackle and redirect more resources to underrepresented regions. Findings from the UK Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis 2022 have highlighted the strong discrepancies in the Northern regions which we need to work together to address.
There are an increasing number of key businesses and experts working across the Northern regions, and we would urge companies and individuals to come forward to engage with this collaborative project, and we look forward to working with the clusters to drive this forward.”
Linda Smith.
The survey is now live: https://ukc3.co.uk/northern-cyber-clusters-collaboration-project and the Northern Cyber Clusters Collaboration project are urging anyone from the North East, North West or Yorkshire cyber security sector, be that sole traders, SME’s, to multi-nationals from academia to private to public sector to get involved and help level up the North.
Leading property company Bruntwood Works has aided a flurry of businesses as they grow their footprint at 127 Portland Street in Manchester city centre, following a high demand for a creative workspace.
Summize, Design Fire Consultants (DFC) and Embryo have collectively taken over 10,000 sq ft of flexible workspace across three office suites.
Situated in Manchester city centre, 127 Portland Street is part of Bruntwood Works’ ‘West Village’ campus, a destination filled with creatively-minded businesses within a cluster of four Grade II listed Victorian warehouses.
Summize, the Manchester-based contract lifecycle management disruptor, has relocated to 127 Portland Street doubling the size of its headquarters, to facilitate further growth. The company is targeting a planned increase in headcount of 133 percent by 2025.
Fire safety engineering specialists, Design Fire Consultants (DFC), has also joined the community at 127 Portland Street, as it looks to grow its relationships with new clients and architects, and serve its existing projects in the North West.
As a longstanding Bruntwood Works customer, award-winning digital marketing agency Embryo has doubled the size of its Manchester headquarters already based at 127 Portland Street. This follows a period of impressive growth, with the business experiencing a year-on-year increase in headcount of 170 per cent, and a series of new client wins.
DEMAND FOR QUALITY WORKSPACE INCREASES AS BUSINESSES EXPAND THEIR FOOTPRINT AT BRUNTWOOD WORKS’ 127 PORTLAND STREET 13
Josh Hancock, head of commercial at Bruntwood Works, said: “Positioned at the bustling heart of the city centre, 127 Portland Street is a true magnet for creative, innovative and growing businesses. The building’s impressive original features and wealth of amenities harness creativity, and mean it is a perfect hive of collaboration. With connections to retail and hospitality offerings, such as a Ditto flagship coffee shop, it is a unique space for businesses to develop their industry contacts, build relationships and grow.
“We’re proud to support Embryo, Summize and DFC as they expand their presence in the North West, and welcome them to our ever-growing community at Bruntwood Works.”
Tom Dunlop, CEO and co-founder at Summize, said: “While many businesses are scaling back their physical offices, we see it as ever more important to foster collaboration and learning, with more emphasis on different zones to meet different ways of working.
“I’m really proud of the new office space, it’s deliberately different, just like our product offering, and perfectly reflects our fun and ambitious culture. I am really looking forward to seeing what our fantastic team continues to achieve as we settle in.”
As part of the West Village community, 127 Portland Street has its own dedicated community manager focused on curating social, health and wellbeing events and business support. The building is due to undergo refurbishment to provide a range of high-quality amenities, including new toilets, showers and a cycle store. Situated at the gateway to the Oxford Road Corridor, a minute from St Peter’s Square, 127 Portland Street is within walking distance of the city centre’s retail shops, bars, and restaurants.
GK Apprenticeships reveal that Manchester is ranked as the second most tech city in the UK in 2022, the heart of the North West’s hub for tech and IT.
Manchester, the centre of the tech community in the North West, continues in 2023 to attract tech talent for a variety of reasons: amazing career opportunities, access to leading universities and a supportive business culture that hosts strong fintech and SaaS industry connections.
For the 12 months from Aug 2021-Aug 2022, 63,000 tech roles were advertised, with such numbers predicted to rise in 2023.
However, tech companies are facing increasing challenges in filling vital tech vacancies, and in tooling up with the digital skills required to compete. The IT industry is reporting;
69% of employers face IT/Digital skills gaps
78% need a larger pool of digital talent to support productivity demand
63% of employers feel they don’t have the right digital skills
For the tech sector to grow at the rate required to support productivity demand it is essential to facilitate pathways into the sector for talent not yet working in tech.
GK Apprenticeships, who specialise in IT and Digital Apprenticeships, help businesses who find themselves in the position of needing to fill tech vacancies attract new talent, as well as developing the talent of the existing workforce, helping them gain the digital skills required for the job. Such opportunity is provided through the funded IT/Digital Apprenticeships GK Apprenticeships’ have to offer.
Employers seeking staff can get funding from the government to help pay for apprenticeship training. With government funding of 95%, never has there been a better time to take on an apprentice.
If interested in wanting GK Apprenticeships’ help with the recruitment of talented staff within the tech industry, click here to apply to hear more information from the team, or reply to [email protected] to schedule a call.
In the Midlands and North of England, Women Returners and STEM Returners have been awarded UK Government funding to assist parents and carers with returning to work, tackling the difficulty returning workers face on the open job market.
Women Returners, in partnership with STEM Returners and funded by the Government Equality Hub, will deliver the STEM ReCharge pilot over the next 18 months. The initiative will provide free-of-charge return to work career coaching, job skills training and sector-specific upskilling and mentoring to 100 returners with tech or engineering experience who have taken career breaks over a year or more.
Parents and carers typically face an uphill battle when trying to return to professional-level work, with a range of challenges from reduced professional self-confidence to widespread recruiter bias against people without recent experience.
The STEM ReCharge career coaching and job skills training will address these practical and psychological barriers, providing support to rebuild confidence, balance work and caring, write a back to work CV and hone interview skills. Small group sessions will encourage motivating return-to-work support networks.
Participants will also benefit from 1:1 mentoring, a tech or engineering ReFresh Week with updating sessions from industry experts to prepare them for interviews, and ongoing support with finding suitable work opportunities and reintegrating into the workforce.
The programme will also provide free training and support for 30 STEM employers in the regions, to enable them to better recruit and retain this talent pool who are so often overlooked.
Employer training sessions will aim to improve recruitment processes and the onboarding experience for returners and will inform about best practice in creating inclusive returner programmes. Employer engagement events will take place in hub cities including Birmingham and Leeds in late April for local organisations to find out more about the training and learn from the experience of successful returner employers.
STEM ReCharge is being targeted at the West and East Midlands, the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West, after new analysis carried out by Women Returners and STEM Returners showed these areas have far fewer returner programmes than southern areas. From 2020 to 2022 there were 1.6 returner programmes per million people in the Midlands, 2.3 programmes in the North East and Yorkshire and 2.5 programmes in the North West, compared with 7.8 programmes in London and 5.3 programmes in the South West.
The Government Equality Hub estimates there are currently 75,000 people (the majority women) who are economically inactive due to caring responsibilities, who have not worked for at least 12 months, who had a STEM occupation before their career break and who would like to return to work in the future. There are many more STEM professionals working at a lower skill level around their family, who will also be eligible to benefit from the programme.
Women Returners and STEM Returners are the two leading organisations in the UK in STEM returner programmes and supportive returner network communities. More than 600 experienced STEM professionals have returned to work through their returner programmes.
Julianne Miles, CEO of Women Returners, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with the Government Equality Hub and STEM Returners to launch the innovative STEM ReCharge programme in the Midlands and the North of England.
“There is a pressing need in these regions to provide this job-readiness support tailored to parents and carers returning to STEM, together with training for STEM employers to create more supported routes back to work for career returners. We’re confident that this comprehensive programme of support will help to accelerate the removal of the career break penalty in the UK.”
Natalie Desty, Director of STEM Returners, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Government Equality Hub in increasing the opportunity for returners in STEM and lowering the barriers they face when they try to resume their careers.
“There is a perception that a career break automatically leads to a deterioration of skills. But the reality is, that many people on a career break keep themselves up to date with their industry, can refresh their skills easily when back in work and have developed new transferable skills that would actually benefit their employers.
“This programme will allow us to continue our mission to help create a diverse, inclusive and equitable STEM sector. We are especially delighted to be collaborating on this project with Women Returners, as working together we can achieve more.”
Natalie Detsy
On launch of the initiative, Minister for Women and Equalities, and Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch MP, said: “I learned how to code at the age of seven and trained as an engineer, so I know the importance of science to our economy.
“In the last decade we have seen more girls studying STEM subjects at school and university, but we know that too many women later drop out of those careers because they need to care for children or elderly relatives.
“We are investing in returners so we can plug the STEM gap, increase workplace equality, and boost our economy. That’s good business sense.”
Minister for Women, Maria Caulfield MP, said: “STEM jobs make up a large proportion of our economy, but there is a shortage in STEM employees and 75,000 STEM returners who want to get back to work. We know there are women across the country who have left their jobs to care for elderly relatives or children, and want to return to work.
“This pilot will help organisations to recruit those who are too often overlooked because of a gap on their CV.”
