Investment boost for digital sector - graduate jobs

A digital innovation project in the North East of England has been granted £2.66m of investment in a bid to attract more graduates to a career in the digital sector.

The new funding for the Sunderland based Codeworks will create and protect 80 jobs, while boosting 120 businesses across the region.

The centre can now continue its successful programme of bringing together small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and university graduates to create new ideas for the digital sector.

The creativity provided by graduates allows the "Digital placement and knowledge transfer" project to support small companies by providing access to the expertise of graduates. Since the initiative began in 2004, 350 students and graduates have been placed in roles with different SMEs and 85% of these secured work with the host company or elsewhere in the region's digital sector.

The new investment will allow the Codeworks project to help SMEs collaborate with the region's universities and develop the digital industry by addressing specific needs for the future and by finding graduates with the appropriate digital know-how.

Herb Kim, the CEO of Codeworks, said: "Our placement schemes have helped the region's digital sector to grow by giving businesses access to the fresh new talent they need to develop and compete."