National Apprenticeship Week 2023: Building the North’s next generation of tech and creative leaders

After a friend told him about The Juice Academy, the brainchild of creative communications agency Tangerine Communications based in Manchester, he found a route into digital without having to go to university.

“They work with a learning provider and a placement company to offer social media apprenticeships to young marketers. I was hired by Pixel Kicks as a digital marketing apprentice and had promotions to executive and manager in my five years there.”

Being able to tap into all areas of the business, from SEO, PPC, email marketing, branding, website design and HTML coding, he found his experience helped him to become a “more well-rounded digital marketer” and is now heading up the marketing team at Venditan.

“Now that I’m in a hiring position, I understand that this is an industry that looks for demonstrable experience first and foremost. I don’t think a ‘marketing degree’ would be a separating factor between candidates but that’s just my opinion.”

It’s a similar experience shared by Ellie Morgan, a digital PR consultant at Newcastle-based agency Evolved Search. 

“Opting for an apprenticeship can be quite stressful because university is often pushed as the natural path to take after high school. I appreciate that many people go to university to get a degree required for the career they want and the experience of university, but neither was relevant to me. Despite my love for learning, I knew I wouldn’t need a degree for my future career path, and I figured it was better to get a few years of experience under my belt, as well as making money and avoiding student debt.”

After discovering digital marketing, she found her way onto an apprenticeship scheme straight after her A Levels in 2019. Now working at Evolved, she is one of the agency’s youngest employees and recently received two industry awards as a ‘Rising Star’.

“By age 21, the age I would have left university, I have three and a half years of SEO and PR experience,” she emphasised. “I’m settled in a workplace that I feel is growing at a fast rate, I don’t need to dream of somewhere bigger or better, I’m already here. Not having a degree has never been an issue for my progression.”

“If you’re looking for cheap labour, then they aren’t right for you…”

Back in 2012, Lauren Henley did an apprenticeship in digital marketing and is now in the senior management team at digital PR agency JBH. 

After doing a BTEC instead of A Levels, she realised she wanted to learn in a more “hands on” way.

“University courses didn’t appeal to me, and my childhood dream job of becoming a Spice Girl didn’t come off, so I started looking at apprenticeships as an alternative. What really appealed to me was that I’d learn on the job, grow my soft skills as well as the more technical skills,” she explained. 

Now in her role as strategy and performance lead at JBH, she has hired apprentices and mentors women on entering the industry too.

“I think apprenticeships are massively beneficial as long as they are used in the right way. If you’re looking for cheap labour then they aren’t right for you. Over the past couple of years I have mentored young women who are just beginning the digital marketing apprenticeship. They are all extremely talented, however some struggle with imposter syndrome because they aren’t getting the support they need.

“Apprentices give unique insight and often the questions they ask or approaches they take can shake up the way they have done things for years. Diverse backgrounds, different thoughts and ideas come from different experiences, which is great if you work in marketing and PR.”

Another advocate of apprenticeships is Declan Reilly, head of SEO at Sheffield digital agency Evoluted. He began his SEO career as an apprentice back in 2011 at digital marketing agency The SEO Works. After gaining experience at the company, he progressed to head of SEO and led a team of more than 20 people. 

At the start of 2020, he took that experience and bagged a role at Evoluted.

“I was doing some tough subjects at A Level and I just wasn’t enjoying it. Ditching that and starting out as an apprentice was so good for me. It helped me transfer from school-life to work-life without as much expectation on my shoulders and gave me a platform to develop naturally and grow into my role. I see that agency experience on my CV now and feel like it’s really helped me in my career.”

Despite the opportunities apprenticeships may have to offer with kick-starting careers and progressing in a company, he offered some words of advice.

“Make sure the company you opt to start an apprenticeship with has good intentions to help support your growth and aren’t simply seeing it as a short-term measure to get some extra hands on deck.”

Kicking off his career as an apprentice in an entirely different world, Jake Holyoak, Head of Digital PR at Sunderland-based Niche Website Builders, started out as an apprentice footballer. He moved on to an IT and marketing apprenticeship at 19-years-old, later securing roles at various agencies in the North East and was able to progress through the ranks from there.

“Not only did you get to learn the basics, you also had hands-on experience working within an agency to see just how they run. I came out of football aged 19 so my friends and others were already well underway at university and I didn’t want to play catch up. I threw myself straight in. As a result, now I have a passion for working with apprentices. Several of my previous apprentices now head up their own teams and one came with me to my new agency to be deputy manager!”

It hasn’t just helped many with their careers across the marketing and creative sector, apprenticeships have created pathways into the North’s booming tech sector too.  

Manchester Digital, a not-for-profit industry body for the digital and tech industry in the North West. launched an academy in 2016 to help support the industry with upskilling, apprenticeships and bootcamps.

Emalin Matthews and Lucy Donnelly are two of the academy’s success stories, going on to secure roles at Auto Trader and Co-op Technology.

For Matthews, although she taught herself to write code and develop websites in the 90s, she didn’t believe she was good enough to apply for tech jobs at 39-years-old. She stumbled across tech apprenticeships after tagging along with a friend at an event. After completing an apprenticeship through the academy, she was offered an apprenticeship role at Co-op Technology where she now works full-time.

Similarly, Lucy Donnelly’s potential was spotted at an event called Digital Her, aimed at encouraging women into the tech industry. Encouraged to apply for an apprenticeship through the academy, she was offered an apprentice software developer position with Auto Trader.

“I spent my youth making Buffy the Vampire fan websites and teaching myself Photoshop, and I continued my interest in figuring out how things work as well as teaching myself new skills,” said Donnelly.  “I think the pandemic made me consider what I wanted to do and gave me the courage to make a change!”

There are dozens more programmes and initiatives right across the North focused on nurturing the next wave of tech and creative talent. Josh Oakes completed an apprenticeship in software development at Code Nation whilst working at North West brand and communications agency, Agent.

He believes it has helped to boost his career “much quicker” than if he had opted for the same course at university.

“I had already decided for some time that an apprenticeship was the right route for me, as I knew going to university had no guarantees of getting the job I wanted. The main selling point was having the ability to learn as I work within a business that would support me throughout the whole process.

“The opportunity to work towards a final grade and gain the experience needed in your desired role is invaluable.”

Some tech companies have teamed up with local universities to support the next generation of talent too. Amy Brierley, a marketing executive at SamsonVT, secured her role at the tech specialist as part of a four year digital marketer degree apprenticeship course with Manchester Metropolitan University.

“SamsonVT was in its infancy and looking for someone to support their growth. While I had no actual marketing experience, my drive and hands-on experience in manufacturing meant their CEO, Sam Burgess, offered me a role,” she explained. Alongside Burgess, they decided an apprenticeship would be an ideal opportunity for her to advance her skills, gain a qualification and apply those skills at the company.

Although there are endless success stories of how apprenticeships are supporting budding creatives and tech leaders into their dream jobs, companies across the region are able to tap into emerging, fresh perspectives to fuel future growth too.

“I’m coming up against real challenges and solving problems that aren’t just hypothetical. This is particularly exciting at a fast-growing start-up and I’ve worked on some fantastic projects already, from refining our messaging as we evolve and grow, to developing content that will help us reach new markets,” she added.