When Hai Media Group first heard about the Connecting Tech City project, to unlock the talent of youth in the area and help connect young 
people with learning programmes and jobs within the growing tech sector’s businesses, we applauded. Now, we’ve gotten on board to help in making this fantastic project take off here!
We think this effort ticks all the right boxes for helping East London thrive by:
- Opening up opportunities for hundreds of young people to learn, and work, in Tech City
- Giving employers better access to a pool of talent that is much needed to grow tech businesses and reduce the skills shortage
- Connecting employers and educators with young people, parents and teachers through an online platform
Please read more about Connecting Tech City below in the press release. If you are a member of the media, or just interested in hearing more about the project and coming along to one of the exciting events planned – please get in touch: lisa@haimediagroup.com
#GrowTechCity
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tech City Creative Agencies Join to Combat Area’s Skills Shortage
Connecting Tech City, a collaboration across the tech industry in East London,appoints Pleo, Rosie Lee and Hai Media Group to build a new digital platform to tackle the skills shortage
London, 29th October 2014 – Responding to the widely recognised challenge among Tech City startups that there is a talent shortage holding back business growth, today Connecting Tech City announce the appointment of three leading creative tech agencies (Pleo, Rosie Lee, Hai Media Group) to develop an online platform to tackle the problem. The platform, to be revealed in the Spring of next year, will connect young people, parents, and teachers to local opportunities to learn digital skills and engage with employers.
The skills gap, London tech firms report, is most keenly felt in East London’s Tech City area, where there is the largest concentration of tech businesses in Europe. Over the last year, tech firms have come together to address the problem, through the Connecting Tech City collaboration, brokered by Centre for London.
“Many of the best Digital Learning Programmes in the UK have grown out of the East London tech cluster,” said Jess Tyrrell, Director of the Connecting Tech City programme. “But it is difficult to access these programmes unless you know where to look. We need information to be much more accessible and we need local young people to feel that these opportunities are for them.”
The platform, which is backed by many of the leading firms in Tech City, will radically scale up the number of young people accessing cutting edge digital learning.
The platform itself will be designed and developed by Pleo, a leading digital design agency producing cutting edge products that create and shape human behaviour. Creative agency Rosie Lee are developing the brand and visual identity to reach and inspire young people. Hai Media Group are providing public relations and social media support. The agencies are supporting the project with a mixture of paid and pro bono support.
“This is a really exciting opportunity to level the playing field for young people who want to get into digital” says Nic Mahlunge, junior designer at Pleo. “It has to be relevant to young people like me, who are using the best of interactive and social media tools. We’re very excited to be involved.”
“Young people from each of the agencies will play a big part in the design”, says Asma Nahar, 28, who is working as Community Manager for the project. “I’ll be working alongside Sami Janjer, Account Manager at Rosie Lee and social media lead Miamii Mansour from Hai Media Group, both 23. All of us are young people who know what it is like breaking into the digital industry, and therefore closer to the experience of our users.”
The platform officially launches in March 2015.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Hai Media Group:
Lisa Devaney, lisa@haimediagroup.com | 07711 238173
Connecting Tech City:
Jess Tyrrell, jess.tyrrell@centreforlondon.org | 07779 348180
Rosie Lee:
Russell Clayton, russell@rosielees.co.uk | 020 7613 3752
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. About Connecting Tech City:
The Connecting Tech City initiative, launched in May 2014, aims to bring the Tech City community together in a new drive to help ensure London’s young people – especially those in East London, some of the Capital’s poorest – can benefit from all the opportunities that Tech City has to offer, and that Tech City benefits from a skilled local workforce. The Connecting Tech City project is being coordinated by the Centre for London, a politically independent think tank and registered charity which aims to help London build on its great strengths and meet its great challenges.
Visit: www.centreforlondon.org/connecting-tech-city
Follow @centreforlondon
2. About Pleo:
Pleo is a consultation, strategy and design studio for mobile and innovation projects. We are deeply collaborative and insight driven in everything we do and focus our energy on projects that deliver genuine impact.
Visit: www.pleo.co
3. About Rosie Lee:
Rosie Lee is a hybrid media agency. With expertise in branding, digital, retail design and advertising, Rosie Lee bring a strong creative lead and best in class project management to collaborative projects.
Visit: rosieless.co.uk, instagram.com/rosie.lees
Follow: @Rosie_Lees
4. About Hai Media Group:
We are a public relations consultancy serving tech startups.
Visit: www.haimediagroup.com
Follow @HaiMediaGroup
