Digital Tech Education Provider Receives Investment

Cow Corner has announced its investment in digital education provider, Learning People.

With other investments across software and professional services, this investment in Learning People marks the business’ first venture into the education services sector – with a specific focus on technology and IT education.

Patrick Aylmer, CEO of Learning People, said:‎

“This partnership with Cow Corner will help to strengthen and accelerate our ability to provide more job opportunities for more people within tech, and help people into exciting careers in IT. We’ve always been about helping people learn new technical and digital skills, and working with our students to position themselves in the best way possible to land a new job. Given the huge demand we are seeing from employers looking for new talent, this new investment allows us to accelerate the rate at which we can connect great, talented people with companies.”

According to research from LinkedIn, 150 million new technology jobs will be created in the next five years – yet nearly 40 per cent of the UK’s working population lack digital skills. A UK government report in 2019 also found that digital skills were required in 82 per cent of job adverts online posted in the 12 month period between April 2017 and April 2018.

This digital skillset has been particularly vital recently due to the events of the last 12 months, with more and more businesses pivoting to online models during the pandemic. This digital transformation is likely to accelerate further post-pandemic which highlights the need to close the significant skills gap that exists.

Learning People helps people from diverse backgrounds and all skill levels start, or accelerate, their career in tech by making education more accessible and successful. Given the pressures companies are under to find new talent, Learning People presents a unique solution by attracting and upskilling candidates from a much broader range of backgrounds. By developing customised learning pathways and providing dedicated teaching, support, mentoring, and careers advice, Learning People students are able to acquire the skills, qualifications, and accreditations needed to help them secure their first IT job, or to progress their IT career.

Liam Grant, Partner at Cow Corner, added:

“We saw a great opportunity with Learning People to help continue the business’ growth which in turn gets more young people into the world of tech and IT. There is an acute worldwide skills gap that exists across areas such as cyber security, coding and data science, and Learning People is leading the way in terms of helping to fill the gap between the demand for qualified IT professionals and the increasing pool of people who are looking to forge a career in the sector.”