Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Issue 44 | Page 31

N EWS
BUSINESS
BRIEFS
B US INESSES C A N TA P
INTO NE W TE C H TA L ENT
PIPE LINE WITH FU ND ING
B
usinesses can tap into a new pipeline of
tech talent thanks to the success of an
innovative training programme.
RAW Digital Training is part of DurhamWorks
delivering their Digital Talent Programme,
taking unemployed 16-24-year-olds from County
Durham and giving them work-ready tech and
digital skills.
More than 100 learners have already
successfully accessed expert training from
industry leaders in the fields of games
development, cyber security, website creation
and digital marketing as part of the programme.
But 50 more learners are currently going
through their training and will soon be ready for
the world of work.
Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs)
can access grants towards the salaries of young
people, up to £5,000 (excludes apprentices)
as part of the programme, which is being
delivered by Stockton-based RAW Digital
Training, in partnership with DurhamWorks, a
County Durham Youth Employment Initiative
programme funded by the European Social Fund,
designed to get unemployed 16-24-year-olds into
employment through specialist programmes.
But this 12-month grant is only available
until the end of April – so companies are being
encouraged to act now.
RAW Digital Training managing director
Joanna Wake (left) and RAW Digital Talent
lead Eve Bourne (right) with learners on the
firm’s Digital Talent Programme in Durham,
Thomas Popham, Robert Morgan, Liam
Reed, Byron Webster, Tony Dimmock-
McGarr and Ashley Dunn.
And businesses across the region can access
these prepared learners completely free and
benefit from the new skills and talent in their
workforce.
RAW managing director Joanna Wake
said: “We have a number of candidates
looking for jobs, including graduate roles and
apprenticeships, roles they’re looking to secure
include things like data, IT, digital marketing and
software development.
“We’ve had excellent successes so far with
people gaining careers in tech and digital and are
keen to keep the momentum going.
“The commitment and effort put in by our
participants on the programme is fantastic to see
and certainly bodes well for their future career
prospects.
“It’s an ideal free service for businesses,
whether you are a non-digital company looking
for your first social media marketing apprentice,
or you’re a fast growing tech company looking to
build your internal talent pipeline.
“The £5,000 grant is a pretty unique offer which
SMEs can tap into to help with the salary costs of
their new recruit. We have some truly fantastic
graduates in maths, computer science and more,
who would be an asset to any employer.”
More about the RAW Digital Talent Service
can be found at rawdigital.training/employers/
M ULTI-MILLION PO U ND INVEST M ENT P O W E R S E XP AN S I O N
W
aste recycling and sustainability firm,
Warrens Emerald Biogas, is set to ramp
up its processing capacity at its plant by 40%
following a multi-million pound cash injection.
The Newton Aycliffe-based waste
management firm Warrens Group was recently
acquired by Bio Capital, a major environmental
investment fund.
The site turns food waste into power and was
the region’s first-ever commercial anaerobic
digestion facility in 2012.
The business processes 115,000 tonnes of
food and agricultural waste each year at its site
in Newton Aycliffe, in County Durham.
The waste is then converted into more than
100 million kWh of clean, green energy to
power the equivalent of 19,000 homes in the
region, as well as supplying local farmers with
100,000 tonnes of biofertiliser.
The latest plant expansion marks the fourth
stage of investment in the facility and will
see the company increase additional biogas
upgrading capacity at the anaerobic digestion
plant by upgrading front-end waste reception
facilities alongside increasing pasteurisation,
digestion and biomethane capabilities.
£500K INVESTMENT
The County Durham Growth Fund is
celebrating having invested more than
£500,000 in three businesses from across
the county within 10 months of its
launch.
Established in April 2019, the three-
year fund is a £4.9m investment scheme
providing funding to small and medium
sized businesses in County Durham to
accelerate their growth.
The fund overseen by Business
Durham, the economic development
arm of Durham County Council, is being
delivered in partnership with UMi, which
has a dedicated team of advisors ready
to help with initial eligibility checks and
funding applications.
INCUBATOR BOOST
Seven County Durham entrepreneurs are
on track for success after signing up to a
six-month accelerator programme to help
boost their businesses.
Durham City Incubator (DCI) was
set up in 2018 as a joint venture between
Durham University, New College
Durham and Business Durham to
support ambitious businesses based in
the county who have been trading for
under 12 months to achieve their goals,
as well as to support local entrepreneurs
launch start-ups with high growth
potential.
Through its first two programmes, DCI
has supported 16 entrepreneurs to launch
their businesses and achieve national
recognition and investment funding.
CAREERS SUPPORT
A scheme is being offered to
organisations to help employers support
members of their workforce who are also
unpaid carers.
Durham County Council’s Employers
for Carers scheme is an umbrella
partnership with Darlington Borough
Council and Carers UK to ensure small
to medium enterprises (SMEs) are well-
equipped with the tools to support their
employees who are also carers.
Organisations in County Durham
and Darlington can email Jenni.Wood@
dccarers.org or telephone [phone].
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 31