Iranian refugee Kian helped to rebuild life in UK with tech course from Sheffield-based skills academy EyUp

Kian won a bursary and had been working as a part-time pizza chef to support himself during his studies, and has now landed a job as a junior quality assurance engineer at live data company WANdisco plc.

He said: “EyUp is truly life-changing – it gives me a base to build on and will open so many doors of opportunity.”

All graduates from the first and second cohorts of the course have found work in the tech sector. The third cohort finished their studies on December 23.

EyUp is now recruiting for the fourth cohort to start in March.

Entrepreneur David Richards said: “The whole point of EyUp is to change people’s lives and lower the barrier of entry to become a software engineer. The UK has a massive skills gap and productivity problem and we can only solve it by leveraging talent and giving people an opportunity. That’s what we are trying to do and we want to expand to thousands of people.”

EyUp recently hosted a celebration event with graduates, recruiters and employers at Blend Kitchen, a social enterprise in Sheffield.

Speakers included Melissa Chambers, a former NASA engineer who is co-founder and CEO of cyber security firm Sitehop.

Ms Chambers said: “We are beyond pleased to find EyUp right here in Sheffield, training the next wave of engineers.

“As we grow our global market, Sitehop will be looking for more graduates and EyUp clearly has a great programme to get candidates ready to be immediately effective employees.

“High-tech industry is waking up to the benefits of doing business in the North as an alternative to London and the South. We have a great environment, great universities, and a growing base of competitive companies.”

Daniel Koseoglu, director of specialist technology recruitment business Affecto, also told the audience: “EyUp is different from online boot camps and other providers because it is on-site and intensive. Yes, the recruits learn how to code but it’s actually a small proportion of the course.

“The syllabus is ever evolving and listening to what the market demands. The recruits are coming from diverse backgrounds and bringing with them social and interpersonal skills and real-world experience.”

Alongside Kian, the latest graduates include a former research chemist, a film and TV freelancer, a civil servant and an individual returning to work after a mental health break.

The event also heard from Lottie Rugg-Easey, who graduated in the second cohort and won a job as a junior software engineer at course sponsor WANdisco plc.

She said: “I got an English degree at Sheffield University and then fell into a career as a fundraiser for arts and children’s charities. In the pandemic, like many people I started reevaluating and wanted to do something more challenging, so I decided to become a software engineer.

“The tech sector needs people who can communicate and come from different backgrounds. EyUp prepares you for just getting stuck into things where you don’t know the solution to every problem. It teaches you that’s okay and you can ask questions and find answers.”