ClearCourse, a group of technology brands providing software solutions and an embedded payments platform, has opened a Northern Tech Hub in Preston, Lancashire.
Alongside the expansion of this site, the group said it will invest more than £1 million in hiring new talent, learning and development as well as upskilling existing staff at the Northern Tech Hub.
The Northern Tech Hub houses three of the North West’s most successful tech firms: EKM, FLG and BrightOffice, all part of the ClearCourse family. They have come together to create ClearCourse’s first regional hub for the development of tech innovation and talent.
The group said the Hub will help foster organic partnership between its brands to provide the best products and services possible.
The move will see an initial total of around 150 employees across the three businesses come together, with new employees to be hired at all levels in 2022 via the £1m investment.
The move follows the opening of a ClearCourse office in Manchester in August 2021.
“The new Northern Tech Hub is an exciting next step in ClearCourse’s growth. We’ve always been keen to work with companies across the UK, and we’re establishing the Northern Tech Hub in recognition of the amazing firms in the area, in support of the government’s levelling up agenda,” said John Antunes, ClearCourse Group MD.
“The Hub will help to encourage really exciting sharing of ideas and experience between our firms and will be testament to the huge potential of the North as a really exciting centre for tech growth.
“We’ve historically had great success in the North West, and we want to continue to expand our footprint across the North and the whole of the UK.”
Julie Gordon, ClearCourse chief people officer, said: “Our £1m investment into people and skills in the North West illustrates the great potential and opportunities that can be found in the region and across the country.
“Our hub stimulates engagement among employees, fosters collaboration, and enables us to attract the best talent that the region has to offer. The last few years have shown how employees value flexibility and a culture that supports hybrid working.
“ClearCourse prides itself on an environment that is sociable, creative and active, and we believe that our Northern Tech Hub gives rise to new ideas as well as makes it an attractive concept for talented locals, graduates and apprentices to come and be part of.”