This is what the Cutlers’ Company can teach Sheffield’s tech sector

A digital Cutlers’ Company could help Sheffield attract and retain industry leaders, a round table heard.
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The club for tech bosses could host dinners and social events and be based at the city’s new £3m tech hub, Kollider at Castle House.

And it would work like its near 400-year-old counterpart by creating a prestigious organisation with plenty of clout where senior leaders could socialise and swap ideas.

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The Cutlers’ Company represents manufacturing bosses in Sheffield City Region and has links with historic trade organisations across the country, but especially London.

A round table event on digital skills was held at Kollider in Castle House in Sheffield. Picture Scott MerryleesA round table event on digital skills was held at Kollider in Castle House in Sheffield. Picture Scott Merrylees
A round table event on digital skills was held at Kollider in Castle House in Sheffield. Picture Scott Merrylees

It hosts regular ‘feasts’ at the opulent Cutlers’ Hall on Church Street and attracts top speakers including senior cabinet members. It also has an education programme which organises work experience for school pupils.

The plan was floated at a tech round table organised by Ben Atha, of the Developer Academy, to discuss the skills gap in Sheffield’s booming tech sector.

Other proposals to keep top people happy, besides pay, included flexible working, regular days working together and even month-long job swaps.

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Ben said: “The event achieved what I wanted, which was to get stakeholders communicating. And we’ve come away with action to work on as a collective.”

Simon Ince of Sky Bet, Jamie Hinton of Razor and Emily Dreiman - David & Jane Richards Family Foundation - Project Manager
.Simon Ince of Sky Bet, Jamie Hinton of Razor and Emily Dreiman - David & Jane Richards Family Foundation - Project Manager
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Simon Ince of Sky Bet, Jamie Hinton of Razor and Emily Dreiman - David & Jane Richards Family Foundation - Project Manager .

The round table heard the cutting-edge David and Jane Richards Family Foundation tech syllabus was now in seven Sheffield schools, with ambitious plans to roll out across the city.

But the event heard ‘soft’ skills, including leadership, were harder to teach.

Simon Cookson, director of Northern Value Creators, said: “People skills and leadership are hard to get right. But the senior leaders make firms successful.”

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Nina Swanwick, digital platform manager at Aviva, said offering flexible working was a major perk and the chance to collaborate would make a job more interesting.

Liz Wallis - Sheffield Digital Skills Action Group & Sero - Director and Nina Swanwick - Aviva - Digital Platform Manager.Liz Wallis - Sheffield Digital Skills Action Group & Sero - Director and Nina Swanwick - Aviva - Digital Platform Manager.
Liz Wallis - Sheffield Digital Skills Action Group & Sero - Director and Nina Swanwick - Aviva - Digital Platform Manager.

“Why not send people to work one day a month in Kollider? Let them collaborate and share with their peers and see what they come up with?”

Liz Wallis, of Sheffield Digital Skills Action Group and director of Sero, said the tech giants all had schemes to boost smaller firms, but, understandably, you had to follow their requirements.