With the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor creating exciting growth opportunities, we have taken our first significant step to building the best Technology Leadership network in the Eastern region and to provide additional support for the people behind the fast-growing, innovative businesses significantly fuelling our region’s economy.

Ruben Davis, Senior Technology Recruitment Consultant at Pure, explains more about the inspiration behind the event, why it is the start of an exciting journey and the benefits for both the delegates and the tech industry as a whole.

“I’ve been incredibly proud to expand Pure’s Technology recruitment specialism over the last three years. We are now supporting organisations of all sizes from start-ups and SMEs through to listed and international FTSE businesses, and we recruit across the full spectrum of technology roles. This puts us in the privileged position of working with many of the businesses which are at the heart of the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor.

Already a vibrant £27.3bn economy, independent research suggests the Tech Corridor could still bring an additional £2.75bn to our regional economy by 2031 and create 26,000 more new jobs. To ensure this happens, one of the core aims of the Tech Corridor team is to ‘show the world that we have the people, companies and culture to match any of the leading tech clusters’.

Here at Pure, we know that anything culture and people-related needs to be driven from the top and by company leaders. We want to help those who have progressed into leadership roles, and the people who become Executives through founding their own companies, to understand the part they can play and the difference it can make. Even the most established and experienced leaders are facing a fast-moving industry, an even faster-changing world of work and extreme competition for top tech talent. Access to the right skills is the number one challenge facing tech businesses today and organisations in our region need to be in the best possible position to be able to compete for and retain top talent, which again comes down to leadership, culture and employer brand.

While there are already lots of excellent tech industry networking events in our region, we wanted to create something which had a more specific emphasis and focus on leadership development. Our aim was to create a forum where current and aspiring tech industry leaders could take time out to concentrate on their own professional development, to network with each other, and to explore the softer skills of leadership and its impact on culture and employee engagement. We were delighted to be able to work in collaboration with Barclays Eagle Labs, Tech East and the Institute of Directors and to make this happen and to host the inaugural Tech Leaders event, the first of its kind in the region.

For the first event, we welcomed two fantastic guest speakers who helped us to fulfil our aim of sharing and exploring best practice through insights from experts and established technology leaders. Leadership expert Mark Williams delivered an engaging presentation on ‘Leadership that gets results’, exploring different leadership styles and how they can be used to influence the workplace climate. James Duez, Co-founder and CEO of Rainbird Technologies, shared his journey and experience of being a technology leader.

The delegates comprised a reasonably even mix of those already in leadership roles and those who are aspiring leaders. I hope everyone took a lot away from the event and we have already been in touch to ask for feedback and ideas for future sessions. For us, this marks the start of an exciting journey to build the best Technology Leadership network in the Eastern region.”

The first Tech Leaders event was jointly hosted by Pure, Barclays Eagle Labs, Tech East and the Institute of Directors. For more information and to be kept informed of future events sign up here.

ABOUT RUBEN

Ruben Davis is a Senior Recruitment Consultant at Pure and he specialises in recruiting technology specialisms including Software Development, Infrastructure, Project Management from entry-level to Senior Management. Based at Pure’s Norwich office, Ruben graduated from University of East Anglia in November 2014 with a degree in Business Management. Prior to joining Pure in October 2016, he worked as an IT Recruiter, specialising in Software Development and Testing.