Last Wednesday saw many of the leading technology businesses in the region come together at the TechTalk dinner in Leeds, a regular event hosted by BHP and Clarion Solicitors to discuss the key issues facing businesses in the current climate.
There was some great debate, supported by two guest speakers – Gav Winter, now CEO of RapidSpike, a website monitoring, security and user analytics platform, and previously the founder of The Test People, and Stuart Bullock from BJSS, which is now the largest privately owned IT and business consultancy in the UK. Gav and Stuart shared their personal success stories and how they overcame the challenges of scaling a technology business.
A range of topics was discussed throughout the evening but the one that got the group most animated was people, skills & workplace diversity. There was a fascinating range of examples put forward ranging from the benefits of recruiting apprentices instead of graduates to the value that can be delivered to both employer and staff when two people job share in senior leadership roles.
Everyone agreed that more needed to be done to support workplace diversity, in particular to get more women into tech because the benefits for everyone are huge. The group felt strongly that change needs to happen at an early age i.e. primary/secondary school so that a career in technology is seen as equally accessible and attractive to both boys and girls.
All in all, it was a most enjoyable evening with the discussion continuing into the early hours…
For more information, please contact Steve Kerridge, steve.kerridge@bhp.co.uk, 07968 989652.
