SuperTech launches initiative with Ahead Partnership
to connect talent with high growth opportunities
in the West Midlands

25 May, 23

SuperTech, the UK’s only tech supercluster, is launching a Talent Partnership initiative today (Wednesday 24 May 2023) aimed at developing the range of skilled people in next generation services. It will better connect the talent pool in Birmingham and the West Midlands with high value job opportunities.

SuperTech drives collaboration and innovation in professional services technology (ProfTech, which includes FinTech, PropTech, LawTech and InsurTech) across Birmingham and the West Midlands. It is the lead cluster body with a mission to grow the ecosystem.

SuperTech Talent Partnership launches with five Talent Partners – the School of Code, Ahead Partnership, Northcoders, Generation and Digital Innovators. They are already nurturing the development of essential talent in a range of skills relevant to the ProfTech and wider financial and professional services sectors.

The West Midlands has a broad portfolio of education, skills and training providers. SuperTech will bring them together and connect firms with an under-exploited pipeline of high-quality skills, including software development, AWS cloud engineers, IT support, cybersecurity, data engineers, data analytics, retrofit advisors and tech returners among others.

Access to skills and talent pipelines is essential to positioning Birmingham and the region as the centre of next generation services. It is critical to both resident firms as well as being a key criterion for inward investors.

The value of developing our talent pool and creating even better talent pipelines should not be underestimated. Our fast-growing firms not only need to recruit, but increasingly they want to retrain and upskill existing talent for exciting new opportunities.

For ProfTech businesses looking to invest in Birmingham and the West Midlands, access to talent and trust in the provision of education and training is top of the agenda. Our job at SuperTech is to put the final piece in the jigsaw and better connect under-utilised programmes and providers with a demonstrable track record with this high growth industry.

Hilary Smyth-Allen, Executive Lead for SuperTech

Stephanie Burras CBE, Chief Executive of Ahead Partnership, said:

“We are delighted to join the SuperTech Talent Partnership to nurture the region’s ProfTech sector with our flexible and engaging Growing Talent West Midlands programme for young people that will really ignite their passion for the sector. We’ve been working with local employers to drive the skills agenda in the West Midlands for several years, designing and delivering high-quality interactive activities that support local young people to develop the skills and knowledge they need for successful careers and lives in the region.

“Through our work over almost two decades, we know that when business, education, community partners and the public sector come together to tackle the skills gap that collective action propels the sector forward and enables it to take root in the minds of future generations. We look forward to welcoming more employer partners to this unique and powerful partnership.”

SuperTech Talent Partners will be able to build closer relationships within the ProfTech community, raise awareness of the many alternative pathways into the sector and provide exclusive offers to help turn training into jobs.

Talent Partners will in turn support SuperTech with intelligence on industry trends, assisting national representation and its role in the implementation of the regional Plan for Growth.

Registrations for the Talent Partnership are now open. If you are looking for tech talent, or are interested in becoming a talent partner, then please visit: https://www.supertechwm.com/talent-partnership

You can also find out more about the Growing Talent West Midlands programme by clicking here.