Richard Flint: Give us a Mayor who can tap into Yorkshire's digital economy

But as we’re adding 10,000 new customers each week, and our products are constantly evolving, we need even more software engineers, UX designers, and developers. Despite our efforts since November we now have over 250 vacancies – 50 more than when we started our recruitment campaign.

We’re now finding it increasingly difficult to attract the right people. And, from what I hear, we are not alone. There is an incredibly competitive marketplace for skilled technology talent, not only in Leeds, where we are based, but across Yorkshire and the rest of the North.

One of the main reasons for opening our Technology Hub in Sheffield was to tap into a different talent pool. But with 50,000 similar jobs available across the region, simply expanding our operations in different cities will only get us so far. If a big brand like ours is struggling to attract the right people, then it must be even more difficult for some of the smaller companies competing with us.

So how can we attract and retain tech-savvy people? I believe there are three issues that we must address to ensure that Yorkshire’s digital economy isn’t limited by a skills shortage.

Firstly, we must persuade the thousands of students graduating from our local universities that they don’t need to move to London, or even to Manchester, to start a rewarding career. The Digital Jobs Fair at the First Direct Arena on February 10 will be a great platform to showcase what we have to offer. And we will soon be launching a university placement programme to allow students the chance to experience exactly what it is like to work at Sky Betting & Gaming.

When talented graduates realise that they can stay in the cities they love, get a well-paid job at one of the top 100 companies in the UK to work for and help build and maintain products and platforms that deal with upwards of half a million customers each weekend and more transactions per second than Amazon on Black Friday, then I’m convinced they’ll start thinking of Yorkshire as a place to build their career.

Secondly, businesses and universities need to work together to ensure that graduates are equipped with the right skills. Later this year our academy programme will put graduates through a boot camp. Participants will be guaranteed a job with us and we’re hoping they’ll hit the ground running.

Finally, and perhaps most obviously, we ought to be shouting from the rooftops about the opportunities available here. The technology sector in Yorkshire, including us, has spent too much time talking to itself and not enough banging the drum up and down about the opportunities we are creating.

This can be remedied if we are willing to act collectively. The Leeds City Council Digital Board is working on taking the Tech Careers Fair to London. Sheffield City Council has recently launched “The Outdoor City” campaign to highlight the outdoor adventures, city culture and rural escapes available there. And Tech North is working hard to boost the profile of the sector.

But this is not enough. And it all feels disjointed. We need a concerted campaign to promote Yorkshire’s strengths as a digital and technology hub. If this needs private sector funding, then we would happily contribute. We need political leaders to recognise the strengths in our sector and make sure they talk publicly, and often, about them in the same way that they do about manufacturing and financial services.

And we need to find a way to harness the myriad of organisations all doing their best, but not yet cutting through on a national level. This is eminently achievable. Although Sheffield has already agreed to one, if the rest of our local authority leaders can agree with the Government to a powerful, directly-elected Mayor with real authority over the skills agenda and a mandate to champion the region, the tech sector would get right behind them.

If this Mayor also lobbied the Government to keep taxes and regulation at competitive levels, then Yorkshire will remain well placed to keep growing its technology sector and creating the skilled jobs our society needs.

Richard Flint is chief executive of Sky Betting & Gaming, based in Leeds.