Digital training provider expands in partnership with Bristol college

Manchester-based digital education providers and apprenticeship specialists Code Nation has announced a partnership with The City of Bristol College, expanding its reach into the UK’s booming South West.

Code Nation provides software development apprenticeships and private training courses in its physical campuses and virtual learning environment to create a viable solution to the digital skills gap business-ready digital talent.

Having harnessed funding from the Apprenticeship Levy and the Adult Education Budget, Code Nation can provide training in software development free of charge to its students, and has created great coding careers for graduates, 89% of whom had no prior experience in the field.

Co-founders Andy Lord, chief executive, and chairman David Muir, are bringing their innovative approach to creating employable tech talent to the region, creating further employment opportunities for residents and providing employers with access to software developers.

The South West region boasted a number of impressive statistics last year, receiving the third-most investment of all UK cities, with only Manchester and London raising more, according to the Digital Economy Council.

The growth of technology and digital in the region saw more than 30,000 digital jobs created and in excess of £8bn digital-tech turnover.

Bristol is also home to notable employers such as Hewlett Packard, EE, and Just East, a growing tech community with meetups like Techspark and Venturefest, and leading digital gaming company SG Digital, which is already creating its new software developers through Code Nation’s apprenticeship programme.

Having trained more than 900 students in campuses based in Manchester, Trafford, Chester, Ellesmere Port and Cambridge since its inception in 2018, Code Nation says it is already the UK’s fastest growing software development apprenticeship provider.

Working directly with employers with requirements for software developers, Code Nation engineers its training courses around the skills that modern businesses look for – problem solving, communication skills, commercial awareness, and full-stack technical knowledge.

Paul Rogers, City of Bristol College’s head of business partnerships, said: “The college welcomes the opportunity to work in partnership with Code Nation in the rapidly-growing Bristol tech community.

“It will enable the college to continue to raise the aspirations for all learners with higher level, well-paid apprenticeship opportunities.

“The partnership will create an innovative way of establishing a long-term career pathway in one of the areas that is guaranteed to show huge growth for new talent. Bristol will be at the forefront of digital activity with many global brands establishing a base here.”

The partnership between Code Nation and City of Bristol College comes after months of planning following the region’s status as one of Europe’s booming tech hubs, and Code Nation’s CEO is pleased with the latest venture.

Andy Lord said: “We’ve always had the South West on our radar and we’re delighted to have partnered with City of Bristol College to create a space to train the region’s next generation of digital talent.”

He added: “Despite the current circumstances, we have the ability to run our courses for Bristol’s residence in the next few weeks thanks to our E-Learning platform.”