Amy Newton (above) is one of the co-founders of this year’s Manchester Tech Festival, which takes place on 17th – 21st October 2022. Her consultancy, Inclusively Tech, offers workshops and courses to companies of all sizes, from start-ups to senior leaders, focusing on how to get the most out of the vibrant tech community in Manchester. In this brief interview, Amy explains how inclusive and diverse recruitment has always been at the heart of her business and reasons for launching the Manchester Tech Festival.
To unite, enable and empower the tech community of all roles and levels to come together for networking, learning and sharing has always been central to our aims. We’ve been working on the Manchester Tech Festival since Summer 2020 – but we’ve been running Meet-Ups in this space since 2014. We’re expecting between 1500 and 3000 individuals to attend the festival throughout the week.
In your business brief, you talk about a talent acquisition strategy. Without being too technical, what is this?
It’s something that helps tech businesses work out the best route to find the best talent for their business in a difficult market, while ensuring that they are being as inclusive as possible.
In terms of inclusiveness in the industry, how is Manchester faring? How do you ensure that your consultancy is reaching and opening opportunities for the most under-represented communities?
Manchester is faring very well, we have great companies that are doing brilliant things in this space. They are forward looking and very progressive.
We work with communities and give a platform to people with lived experience via the events and meet-ups groups.
Are you able to share some examples of success stories?
We’ve done great work with companies like Moneysupermarket.com, Venturi, Oscar and Barclays Eagle Labs. They have shown a great commitment to diversity and inclusive hiring practices.
What are the highlights for this year’s festival? As a small tech company, what would be the main attractions?
We’ve got some really great businesses backing us, such as cinch, University of Salford, Roku, Booking.com, Moneysupermarket.com, Spike, Self-Care Backpack, BJSS, Oscar, Morson, Venturi, We Do Digital, KrakenFlex.
The festival is for everyone in the region so we are expecting lots of others to attend. As a small company it would be great for professional and personal development as well as having a bit of fun after a very difficult period!Â
For more about the Manchester Tech Festival contact: Amy@manchestertechfestival.co.uk
https://www.manchestertechfestival.co.uk/
james.bentley@social.co.uk; mobile 07876 899102