Sky Bet eyes tech recruitment push as sponsor of digital festival
Operator named sponsor of Leeds Digital Festival 2017 as firm hopes event will raise awareness of its latest tech roles
Sky Betting & Gaming (SB&G) has been named premier sponsor of Leeds Digital Festival 2017, opening the doors to the firm’s city hub to attract tech enthusiasts to its growing workforce.
The operator will host around six events at its Leeds tech hub during the week commencing 24 April, giving attendees a behind-the-scenes look at its operations.
It will offer work with careers advisors and free career workshops, which it hopes will help raise awareness of the latest tech roles including nodejs, PHP, lean enterprise architecture, mobile digital design and UX.
A Coding for Beginners sessions will offer 50 return-to-work parents or career switchers a half-day of free programming tuition in Ruby Programming Language, while investors, analysts and digital commentators will be invited to a behind the scenes look at the technology driving mobile trading during a major sporting event.
“Leeds attracts students and attracts graduates and the progression opportunities for every kind of digital career are limitless,” Lesley Walkinshaw, software engineering test manager at SB&G, said.
“The city is open to discover and our doors are open this year to anyone who wants to experience life behind the scenes in a fast growth tech business during a week crammed with great music, night life, contacts and experiences,” Walkinshaw added.
Stuart Clarke, festival director of the Leeds Digital Festival, added: “As well as being one of Leeds’ major employers in the digital sector, they are also actively involved in the digital community and encourage their staff to take part in many events through the year.
“Sky Betting & Gaming is one of the most innovative companies in Leeds and we’re proud to work with them, building some great events for this year’s festival.”
This month saw SB&G launch a Facebook chatbot recruitment tool, fronted by Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling.
The company doubled its office space at the Leeds tech hub last year in a move to accommodate growing staff numbers and productivity.