FinTech Wales has launched a new coding academy in a bid to address the skills gap in Wales.
The not-for-profit membership organisation for the FinTech and Financial Services industry in Wales has created a new fast-track 10-week training programme in partnership with Cardiff and Vale College, iungo Solutions, The Knowledge Academy, risual Limited, and Gaia Ines Fassò.
The academy is fully-funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.
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Endorsed by Admiral, Principality Building Society, Deloitte and Hodge Bank, the programme covers modules including Javascript, CSS, HTML and also provided Microsoft Azure and Scrum Developer qualifications.
The programme has already helped 28 people, between 21 and 62 from a variety of career backgrounds, to become front and back-end developers including ex-PGA golfer Richard King.
Mr King, a former golf pro since 2004, is the first of four graduates from the programme to have been offered a job as academy developer at Principality Building Society.
Interviews for other students have also been set up with Confused.com, Delio, ActiveQuote and Ever Nimble.
Mr King was the golf academy manager at Hartpury College in Gloucester for a decade before moving back to Wales with his wife and two children.
He became a coach at The Vale Resort in Hensol before the pandemic hit in 2020. It was after the subsequent lockdowns caused by Covid-19 that he decided to look at a new career.
"During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time with my kids, which I hadn't been able to do as a golf coach. So, when things re-opened and I went back to coaching, I realised that I didn’t want to spend such long days and weekends away from home," said Mr King.
He added: "I decided to look for a new career and, after the end of the lockdown in 2021 I read an article about a shortage of web and software developers in the UK, so I signed up to a one year online course, which I tried to do in my spare time.”
Mr King handed in his notice at the Vale at the beginning of the year to be able to concentrate on his online course before applying for the Coding Academy at Cardiff and Vale College.
He said: "The Coding Academy was the perfect solution, it was full-time, exposed us to local FinTech companies and even provided a small salary. No prior experience was needed so I signed up,.
"We were encouraged to apply for the roles we wanted while we were still on the course, so when I saw the opportunity as an academy developer with Principality I applied straight away."
"I'm really looking forward to working for a great company where I'm sure I'll continue to learn more as I progress."
FinTech Wales' head of skills Gemma Hallett said: "I am absolutely delighted that so many of our coding graduates have been offered roles as developers and I’m very excited about the interviews lined up with fantastic employers for our other graduates. This academy in particular focused on programming languages, cloud services and project management methods, which are highly sought after skills recognised by FinTech Wales’ members."
She added: "We're looking forward to working with Cardiff and Vale College and our members on more programmes like this. Collectively, we can develop and retain the skills required to truly champion Wales as leaders in FinTech on a global stage.”
Iain Mansfield, chief finance officer at the Principality, said: "We are delighted to have been able to make the first four job offers to the coding graduates, and we’re looking forward to them joining Principality as academy developers.
"As a founding member of Fintech Wales, we are passionate about supporting and growing the Welsh FinTech cluster. I’m a proud member of the FinTech Wales advisory panel who continuously review, identify and support the wider ecosystem. For us, it’s not just about supporting Principality’s growth; we want to support all the startup and scaleup FinTech businesses to create job opportunities, boost economic growth and develop important skills."
James Scorey, vice principal funding and planning at Cardiff and Vale College, said: “Cardiff and Vale College is delighted to have worked in partnership with FinTech Wales and key employers in this growing and important cluster to respond to business needs and create unique opportunities for adults across the Cardiff Capital Region.
“The College has strong relationships with firms in the sector and is working closely with them to provide a pipeline of new talent, develop their existing staff and support business growth."
He added: "We are delighted with the success of our pilot programme and are actively working to secure additional funding to expand delivery and create further high quality training opportunities. We’d like to congratulate Richard and all of our graduates, they’ve shown great commitment, passion and enthusiasm and we look forward to supporting their development as they progress in their new careers."
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