SCC Academy launched to boost digital skills across Midlands

SCC is synonymous with Birmingham and has repeatedly shown its commitment to the area by ploughing millions into office developments and employing local people.

It has now taken a further step to invest in the area by opening a digital skills hub that will deliver learning to 1,000 people a year.

SCC Academy, an employer-led training hub created by SCC, has been officially opened by West Midlands mayor Andy Street.

The Academy will work with agencies and community groups to provide training and arm more people with foundational technology skills and the chance to gain employment in digital roles.

So far, 110 students have registered for essential digital skills training and more than 50 have enrolled in the Academy’s GCSE-level courses. Already, 18 have completed a foundation degree level data engineering course since the training hub’s inaugural pilot programmes began.

“Throughout its history, SCC has been engaged with the education sector and inspired by its ideals and aims,” said Peter Rigby, SCC founder and chairman of parent company Rigby Group. “That lifelong commitment to the value of continued learning, and the power it has to transform lives and communities, is the foundation upon which the SCC Academy is built.

“While the official opening marks the achievement of a longstanding personal ambition, this is just the beginning of a very long, very important journey for the SCC Academy. Over the months and years ahead, we intend to engage and collaborate with relevant groups and stakeholders in communities across the UK and beyond to ensure that the course structure we build and evolve meets the needs of those it has been built to support in a very real and practical way.”

West Midlands mayor Andy Street said the SCC Academy would act as an example of what was possible when local employers, government and community groups came together.

“Driven by a company that has created many thousands of jobs in the area over more than five decades, it will provide a unique and essential pathway towards enhanced life skills and potential employment for participants of all ages and backgrounds, creating hope in places where it has previously been in short supply,” he said.

James Rigby, chief executive of SCC, said the organisation wanted to make a real difference in Birmingham. “This is a huge prospect for young people in the Midlands who otherwise might not have the access to digital skills,” he said. “As the Midlands’ biggest private employer, we have created more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in the region since arriving in 1975.

“By providing training and technology to improve digital skills and employability and give young people a great grounding in the world of IT, we will continue adding to that legacy for many years to come.”

The SCC Academy opening comes just a few days after SCC said it was working on a five-year M&A strategy, backed by a £300m war chest.