Dreaming of a move back? There’s no better time to come home!

, , ,

Are you returning to the North West for Christmas? A new campaign is encouraging local diaspora to consider moving home for good.

Job opportunities, career progression, quality of life and the benefits of the £250m City Deal are among the key draws highlighted by the ‘Come Home to Us’ campaign, spearheaded by Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Investment team.

It features testimonials from local people who have returned to live, work and invest in the region after working abroad, plus information about the range and quality of jobs available, from attractive entry level roles to senior executive positions.

A range of ‘Work Life Balanced’ promotional videos, social media and digital advertising will be released over the festive period to support people who want to move home and build a life in the North West – whether it’s setting up their own business, finding a great job, working remotely, or availing of the excellent schools and natural beauty on our doorstep.

The campaign will also showcase the transformative £250m Derry and Strabane City Deal, which will further boost the local economy through cutting edge innovation and research, job creation and regeneration.

Meanwhile, the Invest Derry Strabane website also features a special round-up of companies currently hiring in the North West, including global firms such as Allstate and Seagate, local success stories such as Learning Pool and Elemental, and ground-breaking gaming company Hypixel Studios.

Rosalind Young, investment manager at Derry City and Strabane District Council said: “This is a fantastic time to consider a move home. There are a wide range of opportunities available in the North West, whether you’re a graduate, on your second or third job, or looking for an experienced, senior level role.

“We have a great variety of sectors here who are currently hiring – from financial services and software development, to advanced manufacturing, engineering and life sciences – and a fantastic ecosystem of businesses, both homegrown successes and multinational companies all serving global clients from the North West.

“The recent shift towards remote working has also demonstrated that people don’t have to live in a major metropolis to do business, stay connected and progress their career path. This campaign is a chance to showcase the opportunities available in the Derry and Strabane region, and celebrate what makes it such a great place to live, work, invest and come back to.”

Ryan Williams is director of home care innovator Connected Health, and founder of business incubator and co-working space The AMP, which recently opened a new site at Derry’s Ebrington Square.

“I think there’s an increasing ecology of career progression in Derry, of moving from one company to the next. There are more senior positions, more technical positions here now, and a much better standard of life than somewhere like London or Dublin,” he said.

Jennifer Neff is co-founder of the award-winning social prescribing software company Elemental. She moved home to Derry and founded the company with Leeann Monk after living in Edinburgh and Manchester.

She said: “I am getting everything I need from this city and region and I am giving back too, having created 35 jobs at Elemental with my business partner, Leeann Monk. There is an energy here right now that I haven’t seen before. Lots of people are making great things happen and there is a chance to be part of that by moving to this wonderful place.”

For a round-up of companies currently hiring in the North West, visit https://investderrystrabane.com/worklife/

/0 Comments/by

Illumination festival set to light up the city

, , , ,

A two-week illumination festival will be held in Derry in February, with some of the city’s most iconic buildings transformed into pieces of art.

The ‘Illuminating the Walled City’ spectacular will run from February 14 to 27, from 5pm to 10pm daily.

It will consist of three main elements including an Illuminated Trail of Light, with props, performers and lanterns, a music programme embracing the theme of light in unique locations, and live illumination experiences featuring landmark buildings.

The plans follow the major success of the Lumiere light festival as part of the City of Culture 2013 programme, which highlighted the requirement for an out-of-season experience that will attract visitors to the city.

Derry City & Strabane District Council has received a Service Level Agreement (SLA) from Tourism NI for £451k to the two-week long festival. It is 100% funded with no additional budget required by council.

/0 Comments/by

North West ‘on the cusp of something great’, business leaders told

, ,

Business leaders from across Northern Ireland have attended an event to celebrate the North West’s potential for investment, innovation, and economic growth.

Minister for the Economy, Gordon Lyons MLA spoke at the Succeed North West event, which presented the opportunities that exist locally and showcased what makes the region a great place to live, work and do business.

Attendees at the event, held in Belfast’s Merchant Hotel, also heard from Derry-based company Elemental and Derry City and Strabane District Council on the benefits and advantages of doing business in the North West.

The event was sponsored by Allstate NI and FinTru, and hosted by BBC broadcaster Mark Carruthers, with entertainment from renowned Derry musician Phil Coulter.

Succeed North West was led by the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland, North West Regional College, Ulster University, Western Health and Social Care Trust, and Derry City and Strabane District Council. The key strategic partners involved plan to take the event on the road across the UK, Ireland and beyond to promote the North West as a leading location for business and entrepreneurship.

Paul Clancy, chief executive of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are on the cusp of something great in the North West, something which can benefit businesses, workers and families across the region. Looking forward, I would encourage any growing business to consider investing in our region, and to join the thriving, supportive, and prosperous business community that we have built here.”

/0 Comments/by

Magee unveils new manufacturing and engineering degree apprenticeship

, , , ,

Ulster University is partnering with Manufacturing & Engineering Growth & Advancement (MEGA) to provide Northern Ireland’s first degree-level apprenticeship in Manufacturing & Engineering.

This first-of-its-kind course, funded by the Department for the Economy, is now underway and represents a new chapter in higher education for the Magee campus.

This new offering aims to create a pipeline of skilled talent fit for industry’s needs now and into the future, ensuring Northern Ireland is in a position to maximise the opportunities presented by the fourth industrial revolution.

An alternative to the traditional degree route, it will see apprentices employed from day one. This means participants incur no cost in their higher-level education; in fact, they earn a salary.

Robotics, artificial intelligence and digitalisation will be among the key themes studied within the new programme offered by the School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems at Magee.

Apprentices who train at Magee will also benefit from access to Centres of Excellence such as the Centre for Industrial Digitalisation, Robotics and Automation (CIDRA) and the Cognitive Analytics Research Laboratory (CARL) that are being developed as part of the emerging Derry and Strabane City Deal, and which will become a destination for Research and Development for industry partners.

/1 Comment/by

City of London delegation meets Derry Strabane City Deal partners

, ,

Representatives from the City of London Corporation met with key City Deal partners during a visit to Derry.

During the trip, the group of senior officials met with the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Alderman Graham Warke, and representatives from the local education and business sectors.

The London delegation spoke with students involved in the region’s first professional financial services qualification (Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment), delivered to post-primary students, while financial services company FinTrU outlined the continued expansion of their sector in the North West.

City Deal Innovation leads also shared key objectives and took the visitors – who included the City of London Corporation’s Chairperson of Policy and Resources Committee, Catherine McGuinness, and Head of UK Partnerships Andrew McGowan – on a tour of Ulster University’s new School of Medicine at Magee.

Mayor Warke, said: “The City of London delegation during their visit got a unique insight into the key role our region is playing in the success of UK financial services and how the City Deal investment in research and innovation, particularly big data analytics and AI, will drive our regional economy.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Warke also travelled to London last month to attend the installation of the incoming Lord Mayor of the City of London Corporation, Alderman Vincent Keaveny. Mayor Warke said it was a “huge honour” to be invited to the ceremony and Derry City and Strabane District Council was committed to further building the close relationship between the two cities, including work, cultural, business, educational and tourism linkages.

/0 Comments/by

Discover digital, creative and fintech employers with new interactive map

, , ,

Local employers have joined forces with academics, educators and the Council to encourage further growth of the North West’s digital, creative and fintech sectors.

The Homeground website and interactive digital map profiles more than 90 local companies who between them have created thousands of jobs and are generating millions of pounds in revenue.

The collaboration is intended to raise awareness of the fastest growing sectors in the North West and help ensure a future pipeline of talent by informing young people about the global career opportunities on their doorstep.

Homeground.me

Website visitors can view the map of Derry, Strabane and Letterkenny and click on company logos to discover more information and contact details.

Through Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Education & Skills Delivery Partnership, government, schools, higher and further education institutions and industry are working together to recognise skills gaps, identify how to attract or grow this talent, and nurture the workforce of tomorrow.

Columb Duffy, senior leader at Allstate NI in the North West, is chair of the partnership’s Digital, Creative and Financial Technologies Subgroup.  He said: “The digital, creative and Fintech sectors have been steadily growing in the North West, with over 100 companies offering job opportunities with excellent work-life balance and competitive salaries right here on our doorstep.”

For more information on these companies, explore the interactive digital map at www.homeground.me​.

/0 Comments/by

Spotlight interview: Nicola Hunter, 1st year student at Magee’s new School of Medicine

, , ,

Nicola Hunter had a successful career in investment banking, working as a consultant in London’s Canary Wharf before landing a place at Ulster University’s brand-new School of Medicine at Magee – the first graduate entry medical school in Northern Ireland.

The Antrim woman, who has a degree in accountancy from Jordanstown, is one of 70 post-graduate students training to become a doctor on the four-year course. Alongside her studies, the 25-year-old is also still employed part-time as a consultant with Vox Financial Partners in Belfast.

Congratulations on being part of the new medical school’s first intake! How is the course going so far?

There was so much excitement on the first day. Walking up towards the library and the medical school building, there were news reporters and TV cameras everywhere. I got interviewed by the BBC on my way in – I still haven’t brought myself to watch that back yet!

The facilities are amazing and they’ve set the course out very well – especially for me coming from a non-science background. There are quite a lot of courses where for the first two years you’re just learning the scientific aspects, whereas at Ulster we were straight in with a case to work on immediately. So, you’re getting the clinical side of it along with the science. You’re very much working off real-life examples, which keeps it interesting.

One of the main reasons I chose this course was that, yes you need to know the scientific background to be a confident doctor, but you also need to know how to talk to people. We have clinical skills groups every week for a full afternoon where you’re going through those core communication skills of how to treat a person, not just whatever disease or illness is in front of you. 

Why did you make the switch from accountancy to medicine?

I’d always wanted to do medicine, but it’s so competitive to get into. I was always very good at maths, so it was sort of a spur of the moment decision during my A levels to give accountancy a go. It turned out to not be my cup of tea, but I knew it was a good degree to have. By the time I got to final year, I knew I didn’t want to train to be an accountant, but I needed a break from exams.

I worked in investment banking in Belfast for a while, did some travelling in Vancouver, then took a job working in investment banking in Canary Wharf. I was project manager on a Brexit team while I was studying for the Gamsat (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test). The hours were crazy – you were getting up, working all day until God knows what time, revising at lunchtime, and then having to revise for hours at night. But by some miracle, I passed!

How was the move from London to Derry?

London is such a fast-paced life, you’re out every night doing different things, but it’s nice to be home and get a bit of a breath back. I moved from London on the Friday and started uni on the Monday. The first day home I was straight to the beach. Getting out and being able to walk in the fresh air, and not be surrounded by traffic and skyscrapers, is fantastic.

Derry has that homely feeling. People here actually want to stop and speak to you in shops and cafes, they’ll chat away to you, so it was really nice to come back to that. I’m looking forward to exploring the beaches up here properly and going to the bars and restaurants here.

Will you bring any skills from your previous career into medicine?

In consultancy, you’re used to working in an environment that is high pressure and long hours. I think time management and knowing how to balance those things will help massively. I’m still working part time for Vox, they’ve been very encouraging and accommodating. letting me work very flexibly. 

How do you find studying medicine during a global pandemic?

You want to be able to help; I suppose that’s one of the main reasons for wanting to be a doctor. So Covid didn’t really put me off in any way. I’m looking forward to being out on the GP placement and even in the hospital. 

What are the other students like on the course?

It’s very diverse, and the age range is broad too. There are people from quite a scientific background – biomedicine, pharmacy, a few nursing students and physios, and then we have people who’ve done social work, and people me who did something completely different like accountancy or business. It means when you’re in a group looking at a case, there are so many different ways of thinking that you just wouldn’t get on an undergraduate course, where everyone’s done science A-Levels and they’re all starting fresh.

Have you thought about what type of medicine you’d like to specialise in?

I’d be leaning towards something like emergency medicine, A and E. I clearly love to be stressed! Or some sort of surgery perhaps – Ear, Nose and Throat surgery has always appealed to me. 

https://www.ulster.ac.uk/faculties/life-and-health-sciences/medicine
/0 Comments/by

Second Innovation Stories webinar announced

, , ,

Kieran Kennedy, former Managing Director of O’Neills Irish International Sports Company, is set to share his innovation insights in an upcoming webinar.

The October 14 ‘Playing the Innovation Game’ event is the second in the Innovation Stories webinar series, which follow the signing of the historic Derry & Strabane City Deal in February, and also come as Northern Ireland embarks on a Decade of Innovation, set out in the recent publication of the Department for the Economy’s 10X Economy paper.

Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, Derry City and Strabane District Council and Ulster University are collaborating on the series in which City Deal partners select case studies from the region, discuss what innovation means within a business, offer and general advice on embracing digital technologies.

Rosalind Young, Council’s investment manager, said: “Through the visionary Derry and Strabane City Deal, a whole new innovation eco-system will develop here in the region. The people behind the City Deal are inviting businesses to hear best practice and to leave with an idea of how they will play their part in the Decade of Innovation that is ahead.”

For further information and to book go to https://londonderrychamber.co.uk/events/innovation-for-growth-playing-the-innovation-game-14-october/

/0 Comments/by

NI’s first Paramedic Sciences degree programme launches at UU

, , , ,

The region’s first ever BSc Hons Paramedic Sciences programme is now underway, with Ulster University welcoming 40 students to the Magee campus.

With funding support from the Department of Health, the new three-year course will be based within the university’s multi-award-winning School of Nursing.

This course will support the development of the paramedic profession in Northern Ireland and further afield. Until now, local students wishing to become paramedics had to travel to the south of Ireland or across the Irish Sea to complete a BSc Hons programme in Paramedic Science.

The first cohort ranges in age from school leavers to people in their forties and a wide range of backgrounds – from those embarking on a change of career from accountancy to insurance, to people working in similar fields: ambulance care assistant, lifeguard, emergency medical dispatcher and humanitarian.

They will learn a wide range of skills through frequent experience and learning inside an exact replica of an ambulance – the only one of its kind in the region – coupled with 60 weeks of practice-based learning with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and a range of other hospital and community-based experience in the other Health and Social Care Trusts and independent sector partners.

The students will also have access to a wealth of specially designed training spaces from a hospital ward, simulated bedrooms and living room recreated on campus, to clinical skills rooms and the latest equipment.

/0 Comments/by

Magee’s School of Medicine opens doors to first students

, , , ,

Ulster University’s new School of Medicine at Magee has welcomed its very first intake of 70 students.

The first cohort to enter the first graduate entry medical school in Northern Ireland is made up of students with a wide range of related and non-scientific/healthcare backgrounds from politics to investment banking, radiography, management consultancy, optometry, forensic science, nursing and even a previous lecturer in Irish at Magee.

The opening of the School of Medicine, in a newly refurbished building with state-of-the-art facilities, comes just six months after the signing of the City Deal’s Heads of Terms, as the region prepares itself to capitalise on further growth in the burgeoning Life Sciences sector in Northern Ireland.

Professor Louise Dubras, Foundation Dean at the School of Medicine, Ulster University said: “I am very proud of our new School of Medicine which in itself marks the continued transformation of the Magee campus into a hub for Health and Innovation, as a pre-emptive part of the Derry and Strabane City Deal.

“Medical schools are sometimes located in a hospital setting but I want our students to learn near the city’s GPs and the population they will go on to care for. The School of Medicine will act as their home, a welcoming place, for the future doctors who are embarking on a challenging yet hugely rewarding journey with us.”

/0 Comments/by