Scottish Widows welcomes second cohort to tech school

Scottish Widows is welcoming 24 new tech trainees at its Dundee Tech School to develop gamified products for Lloyds Banking brands, aiming to boost pension engagement.

The school, which was established in 2023 to support 150 tech jobs in Dundee, provides rigorous training under the direction of Rose Ulldemolins, a recent recipient of the Digital Star Award. After completing their training, students will join teams in positions such as software engineers and product owners.

Additionally, on March 4th, the school will hold “GAMEJAM,” a gaming hackathon in collaboration with nearby universities, at the V&A Dundee. Notably, the programme’s initial alumni are making progress in their employment, and the institution is currently vying for a Scottish Financial Services Awards Innovation Award.

Scottish Widows managing director Jackie Leiper says: “We’re extremely proud of the great work last year’s talented group have already delivered, including brand new gamification content in our app to make it more engaging and user friendly.

“Making financial tools more intuitive is crucial to help drive financial knowledge and wellbeing for the next generation. It’s important for us that this investment in technology directly benefits the local area, and we’re looking forward to more collaboration with Scottish Enterprise to help Dundee maintain its reputation as a centre of excellence for digital innovation in the UK.”

Scottish Enterprise managing director of innovation and investment Jane Martin says: “It’s great to see the latest intake of trainees begin their study at Dundee Tech School, and to hear of innovations already resulting from the project.

“Through our missions approach we’re focusing support on industries – such as fintech – where Scotland has global strengths. We know growing these industries will help boost Scotland’s productivity and create good quality, higher paid jobs across the country. Dundee Tech School is a fantastic example of this and has an important role to play in making sure future employees have the right skills for the industry.”