Northcoders acquires Tech Returners in £1.5m deal

Northcoders, the provider of training programmes for software coding and data engineering, has acquired the specialist training firm Tech Returners in a cash and shares deal worth £1.5m.
By Greg Wright
Published 7th Feb 2023, 08:06 GMT

The deal, which is expected to complete on Wednesday, will create a business with 120 staff. Tech Returners is expected to be fully integrated into Northcoders by the third quarter of 2023 and will continue to operate under its existing brand.

Founders Beckie Taylor and James Heggs will join the Northcoders senior leadership team on completion of the deal.

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Established in 2016 and based in Manchester, Tech Returners specialises in training and placing professionals looking to re-enter the workplace after a career break in the technology sector.

L-R Amul Batra (chief operating officer at Northcoders), Beckie Taylor, Chris Hill, James Heggs and Charlotte Prior (chief financial officer at NorthcodersL-R Amul Batra (chief operating officer at Northcoders), Beckie Taylor, Chris Hill, James Heggs and Charlotte Prior (chief financial officer at Northcoders
L-R Amul Batra (chief operating officer at Northcoders), Beckie Taylor, Chris Hill, James Heggs and Charlotte Prior (chief financial officer at Northcoders

In a statement, Northcoders said: “The business uses its industry leading knowledge and techniques to refresh and up-skill corporate-sponsored individuals or existing corporate teams for large businesses across a number of industries. Across the Tech Returners brand, the team delivers award-winning programmes focused on software engineering, confidence, and digital leadership.

“Its client roster has included global brands such as AutoTrader, BBC, booking.com, checkout.com, The Guardian, Holiday Extras, Lloyds, On the Beach and the Telegraph.”

"Following the acquisition, Northcoders will not only benefit from entry into a new service area, specialising in mid - senior level re-training, but the team of 16 at Tech Returners will support the company in building a significant presence in key locations such as London.”

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Chris Hill, the CEO of Northcoders, which has an office in Leeds, said: “Northcoders and Tech Returners share many common goals and values so this deal is an exciting step in our joint evolutions.

"Over the past eight years, Northcoders has grown to become one of the country’s leading coding bootcamps and is respected across the tech ecosystem as a place that produces talented junior devs in software development, data engineering and dev ops.

"Tech Returners have been on a similar mission but for experienced people returning to tech.”

Beckie Taylor commented: “James and I have respected and collaborated with Northcoders in the past, so we know the fit is right. Our shared objectives are to ultimately drive talent retention in businesses, to attract the best and most passionate minds in the tech industry and to help build diverse teams.

Ms Taylor added: "By combining our experiences and skillsets, I believe that we will create something really special that will have a lasting impact.”

Related topics:ManchesterTelegraphBBC