Join our Trailblazer Group & strengthen your talent pipeline: Express your interest now
“Skills gaps in financial services are impacting productivity, growth and competitiveness. Technological advancements, demographic shifts and changing consumer expectations are augmenting the skills that we need people to have. Skills gaps have been growing and, if left unchecked, will limit out ability to innovate, grow and serve customers.”
Did you know?
- 73% of roles in financial services are highly skilled now, compared with only 52% in 2004.
- Financial services has the 2nd largest skills gap of any UK sector.
(The Financial Services Commission)
At FinTech North, we’re on a mission to enhance the supply of FinTech skills into the North of England. Over the past 18 months, we’ve made real progress, working alongside regional employers, academic institutions and key industry voices. As we approach the next phase of this initiative, we’d like to provide our community with an update on our progress to date:
Q1 2024: Established a Skills Steering Committee (steerco)
We laid the foundation of our strategy by establishing our Skills Steering Committee, created to highlight and co-curate practical and employer-led solutions to help up-skill and re-skill FinTech talent in the region, featuring key ecosystem stakeholders and leaders from industry, academia and policy.
Q1/Q2 2024: Announced our first Skills partnership
We proudly welcomed further education providers in the Leeds City Region, Luminate Education Group as our inaugural Strategic Skills Partner. We announced the partnership at our West Yorkshire Finance & Professional Skills (FPS) Report Launch.
Q3 2024: Hired a dedicated Skills resource and launched our FinTech Upskilling Course
We proudly brought onboard a Silas Ozoya as our Talent Upskilling Associate, a resource dedicated to pushing our work in skills. Since then, Silas has facilitated the research, creation and launch of our FinTech Upskilling Course.
Silas frequently delivers skills updates at our flagship events throughout the year. His input at our events spark FinTech skills-related discussions and helped to connect employers with emerging talent.
Q3 2024: Announced partnership with Leeds Beckett University (LBU)
We were delighted to bring Leeds Beckett University onboard as our first University partnership. We joined forces to develop a bespoke set of up-skilling modules as part of the FinTech Up-skilling Course. This was driven largely by employer insight and features case studies designed to help ensure learning outcomes are aligned to the skillsets required in fast-evolving financial services and tech roles. The course has 3 modules and over 25 units, focusing on…
The course has been featured in LBU’s Employability Showcase, career and skills training and has been adopted by several FinTech students’ associations at University of Bradford and the University of Manchester, signalling increasing interest of talent in the sector.
Q3 2025: Facilitated work experience
We facilitated a four week-long, practical work placement experience for three Leeds Beckett University students. They completed 60 hours of real-world work experience, applying practical skills to their in-class learnings. Working with FinTech North gave them experience of working in the FinTech industry and exposure to the breadth of the Northern Fintech ecosystem.
The students left with a real interest in the sector, with testimonials citing a positive experience.
What’s next? Join our Trailblazer Group
For the next phase of our mission, we’re calling out to medium to large employers in financial services and FinTech to join our Trailblazer Group, helping to shape future FinTech employment standards and ultimately strengthen your access to some of the best talent the North has to offer.
We’re excited to announce that we’re developing the UK’s first FinTech Specialist Apprenticeship, in collaboration with Skills England.
The apprenticeship will bridge the critical gap between academic learning and in-demand FinTech skills. Through the programme, we aim to produce job-ready FinTech talent, equipping them an understanding in key FinTech applications, from digital payments and data analytics to compliance and emerging technologies.
Now, we’re looking to drive engagement from employers to join the Trailblazer Group to help shape the apprenticeship standard, support the next generation of FinTech talent.
As part of the Trailblazer Group, you can:
- Strengthen your talent pipeline; access diverse emerging talent and help create a clearer pathway into FinTech
- Raise your employer brand as leaders and preferred employers in the sector.
- Directly shape a nationally recognised apprenticeship standard tailored to real FinTech skills gaps
- Ensure the training content meets the needs of your current and future workforce.
- Play a strategic role in defining the future of the UK’s FinTech workforce, starting right here in the North of England.
If you’d like to express your interest in joining our Trailblazer Group, please fill out our short form here. Alternatively, please contact us via email at info@fintechnorth.uk
