Scottish Widows Tech School graduates to embark on new careers – IFA Magazine

Dundee-based financial services firm Embark (part of Lloyds Banking Group) is celebrating the first wave of graduates from its fintech skills school.

The specialist training facility at Embark in West Marketgait recruited graduates and career changers into junior software developer roles last November, as part of its commitment to the local economy through investing in the development of careers in technology.

Now nearing the end of their custom designed course, the 11 graduates will move into permanent software engineer roles.

After the success of the inaugural programme, Embark now has plans to recruit a new cohort for the intensive training and development course led by its fintech specialists.

The Tech School is led by Rose Ulldemolins, who built her career in technology within Lloyds Banking Group after reskilling as a software engineer.

Rose said: “It’s been amazing seeing how everyone has gone from their first day to here, and how the experiences they have all had as individuals and as a group have made such a positive impact at different levels. I’m extremely proud of their commitment and everyone has played a part in how we will be able to help shape and evolve the programme.”

One of the first group of Tech School ‘graduates,’ Gemma Grant, was working in retail part-time while studying and spotted the opportunity to join the Tech School programme.

She said: “I was debating going back to university to do a Master’s and when I saw the description of the training and what the roles were about, I took a leap of faith, jumped at the chance and am so glad that I did.”

Toby Keech joined the Tech School as a sport and exercise science graduate who had been working as a personal trainer. He said: “I was looking for a new way to learn and challenge myself and felt that even though I wasn’t from a technology background, bringing a different perspective was really valued and we were being trained by experts that were able to get the best out of all of us.”

Jackie Leiper, CEO of Embark Group, said: “Dundee is the heart of digital development – not just in Scotland but worldwide, and we want to build homegrown capability at the heart of our business to help us create the kind of experience and products that our customers want by tapping into different types of skillsets.”

Part of a wider initiative started in 2020 which aims to bring150 new jobs to Dundee supported by Scottish Enterprise, the Tech School was created to help address the acute skills and recruitment challenge for technology businesses nationwide, with 1 in 10 new job openings in the UK technology related.

Since becoming part of Lloyds Banking Group in 2022, Embark has grown its investment in the local area, expanding its customer service team and making Dundee its largest office in the UK with around 200 colleagues in line with the Group’s purpose of Helping Britain Prosper.