A £220,000 initiative aimed at helping Sussex employers recruit early-career technology workers has launched following the award of £154,000 in government grant funding.
The Tech Talent Champions scheme has been established by business incubator Sussex Innovation and training provider TechNative Digital following a successful joint application to Innovate UK’s TechLocal programme. TechLocal operates as part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s wider TechFirst initiative.
The programme offers employers mechanisms to recruit junior technology staff across artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data, and software engineering. Participating firms can recruit directly into permanent positions or utilise supported paid project placements to evaluate candidates before making permanent job offers.
Running through to 31 March 2027, the scheme targets the creation of at least 30 sustained junior positions across the Sussex technology sector. A series of local employer information events will be hosted across the county in the coming weeks.
Nigel Lambe, CEO of Sussex Innovation, said: “As a hub for deep tech in Sussex, we see it as an essential part of our role to connect ambitious businesses with the talent that will shape their future. Tech Talent Champions is about more than filling vacancies; it’s about protecting junior roles in our regional tech sector, so that the next generation of specialists and leaders has a genuine route in. We’re proud to be delivering a programme that gives employers the confidence to invest in emerging talent.”
Dan Wallman, Founder of TechNative Digital, added: “If businesses stop hiring junior talent, we don’t just create a problem for today, we create a much bigger one for tomorrow. A sustainable tech economy depends on employers championing opportunities for people at the start of their careers. Tech Talent Champions exists to both celebrate those employers and make their decision easier, by giving them real evidence of what junior candidates can do before they commit.”
The initiative forms part of a wider series of regional workforce developments funded under the central government’s TechLocal scheme. Similar project allocations across the North East have provided grant backing to business-led consortiums pairing entry-level digital workers with local companies to accelerate software adoption and address regional technical skill shortages.
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