Manchester-headquartered Northcoders, the independent provider of training programmes for software coding, is pleased to announce that it has been successful in securing further funding from the Department for Education Skills Bootcamps Wave 3 bid. This new round of funding provides Northcoders with £4 million worth of scholarships to train individuals on their market-leading bootcamp.

The new contract provides the company with revenue visibility into FY23, which is expected to be another year of significant growth. Signing contracts such as this, and Northcoders initiatives such as the new corporate Developer Incubator, enable the company to plan revenue further into the future than ever before providing comfort for future targets.

The funding has been awarded not only to teach software development, which Northcoders’ core offering, but can also be used to fund students in its new Data Engineering business unit. The Data Engineering unit to be launched in Q4 2022, is the next discipline within the company’s product growth plan. The scholarship seats are eligible for award anywhere in England, which therefore also provides an opportunity to further grow the company’s geographical footprint including in London and other areas of the south of England.

Chris Hill, CEO, commenting on the contract win said: “I am delighted that Northcoders been able to secure this additional £4 million government funding through the Department for Education. As well as providing the company with additional revenue visibility, it also demonstrates how well-regarded our technology training courses are in the UK.

“With one of the Company’s core values being to improve diversity and inclusion within the tech industry, Northcoders are pleased to continue to offer these scholarships that provide accessibility to people from all walks of life across the UK whilst helping address the significant UK digital skills gap.”

Award winning and fast-growing recruitment agency Encore Personnel is expanding its network from its Midlands roots to the North West, as it opens its first branch in the region this month.

Established in Leicester in 2002, Encore employs more than 200 staff and provides temporary and permanent jobs to the engineering, industrial, driving, energy, manufacturing, managed services and professional services sectors from its HQ in Leicester and branches in Coventry, Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Peterborough, Northampton, Nottingham, Spalding and Telford.

The £95m turnover business’s newest branch is located in Warrington town centre and will be headed up by Rob Price, a seasoned recruiter with more than 15 years’ experience in the industry.

Rob, who has been operating at Director level for the past five years, said: “I’m delighted to be joining Encore at such an exciting and pivotal time for the business. My background is sales through and through, having kicked off my career in recruitment at 18 years old. Within six months I was a branch manager and I was then quickly promoted to regional manager, so it is fair to say my drive and ambition to be at the forefront of successful recruitment strategies fits perfectly with Encore’s vision to become the leading recruiter in the North West.

“The goal is to establish our new Warrington branch as Encore’s HQ in the region, putting us on the map as the go-to, first choice recruiter initially for industrial roles, but then plugging in all of our services offerings from driving to energy. I’d like to have a strong team of consultants in place by the end of this year with a goal of 15-20 customers by Q1 of 2023. We’re setting the bar high already – from being an unknown operator in the region, we’re already placing 25 candidates a week so I know our aim of 100 placements a week by Christmas is well within our capabilities.”

Rob’s goal is to grow his team in Warrington in chorus with new customer wins, with the aim of having at least four consultants operating from the branch by the end of this year.

Managing Director at Encore Personnel Pete Taylor said: “Our strategy for opening a new branch – which is now a tried and tested approach given we’ve established a presence in every major Midlands town over the last two decades – is to ensure we have the right person to head it up and a solid requirement for our style and reputation in the region.

“Rob is undoubtedly that person given his outstanding track record in matching business need with exactly the right candidates in the North West. He knows the area, its challenges and opportunities like the back of his hand and so is perfectly placed to establish Encore as the recruiter of choice from our new office in Warrington town centre.

“Our goal is to land and expand with a considered and paced approach. We already have a large and long-standing customer in the region that’s recently opened a major new distribution centre, so Rob has a great foundation for growth already in place. Add to this the excellent road networks in the area that will allow us to efficiently supply to major conurbations, and the stage is set for a great success story.

“We’re delighted to be expanding our footprint to a brand new region and look forward to meeting our new customers and candidates as our reputation grows from our new Warrington home.”

Encore is celebrating a milestone achievement in 2022 as it marks 20 years since it was established, recently revealing its goal to push through the £100m turnover mark this year.

Encore prides itself on its exceptional client and candidate service. It puts the customer and candidate/ employee experience at the centre of all strategy with dual value propositions of ‘your business, your culture, our priority’ and ‘your future, your wellbeing, our priority.’ It places its success on following its key values including avoiding negativity, creating loyalty, and communicating with a refreshing openness.