Consultants

5 reasons to relocate to Birmingham Last year I made the decision to relocate to the West Midlands and set up an Eligo office in Birmingham and after recently celebrating our 1st year of Eligo Birmingham, I can happily say I made the right decision! And I’m not the only one. Apparently over 7000 people left London to move to Birmingham in 2018. Not only is Brum a fantastic place to raise my family and a great place to work, there are also a few other reasons to relocate to Birmingham from London; Travel Being located in the middle of the country Birmingham is a great halfway point connecting the north with the south. This also means it’s got great railway connections and I can easily catch a train to visit Eligo London in just over an hour. (Which can only improve once the high-speed HS2 line is finished!) Surprisingly even though Birmingham boasts having one of the UK’s largest populations, it has the least congestion if travelling by public transport. The city offers efficient and greener public transport which includes buses, trams and cycle routes. Employment Birmingham is renowned for its manufacturing and engineering industries which contribute massively to the economy and provides hundreds of thousands of jobs. Historically the west midlands are known for manufacturing, automotive and aerospace industries, but over recent years Birmingham and the west midlands have also been making great strides in the Technology industry. Boasting a growing tech ecosystem with digital technology businesses that are transforming the employment landscape. Housing With house prices over 60% per cent cheaper in the West Midlands than those in London, relocating to Birmingham from London is a no brainer. (Homes in the West Midlands costing £186,480, compared to the average of £484,584 in London.) If you’re looking to live within the Birmingham city centre there are plenty of flats and apartments to choose from, and Brum also offers the perfect mix of city and countryside offering just a short commute into surrounding areas of the city. Culture Birmingham can easily rival London in terms of culture, with art or museum events on around the city most weekends, the NEC also hosts huge global shows throughout the year. And if you’re a sports fan like me, Brum will be hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Birmingham also has some great pubs, bars and restaurants and I can highly recommend a meal along the ‘curry mile’ in the south of the city. Exciting tech scene Working with technology candidates and clients in the industry it’s been exciting to get involved with the tech scene in Birmingham, that has more software developers, programmers and software architects than any other region. Over the recent years, there has been an exciting increase in the number of start-ups in Brum (the second-most in the UK behind London in 2018) with great support for entrepreneurs being provided from funding and advice to workspaces available for new ventures. I talk more about the scene in Brum and its impact on start-ups with Tim Kay from KPMG in my blog 'Tech Talks: Eligo and KPMG discuss the Midlands tech scene' here. In this past year, I’ve also discovered that Birmingham is a great city for networking, offering great meetups across the city making it easier for tech professionals to share and access knowledge. The city also hosts a number of conferences and technology events, such as Birmingham Tech Week this week! If you’re thinking of relocating to Birmingham from London, or anywhere! Check out our helpful guide to relocation here. We’re currently hiring for a technology recruiter to join our team in Birmingham, if you’re interested get in touch with me at rick@eligo.co.uk and find out what it's like to work at Eligo on our Work for Us page.

Eligo and KPMG discuss the Midlands tech scene: 5G roll out, encouraging investment, addressing barriers to business and the skills shortage. Last year I migrated north from Eligo's London headquarters to head up the tech division in Birmingham. Since then, I have dived head-first into the Midlands tech scene. To better understand the businesses and candidates within the Midlands tech market. In April I was lucky enough to interview Tim Kay, Head of Technology & Media at KPMG. To delve deeper into the challenges Midlands based tech businesses face, from lack of investment to skills shortages. As well as some of the more exciting investments into the Midlands area, such as the new 5G roll-out. What are some of the broader challenges that the Midlands tech scene currently faces? I have a confession to make, I’m a reasonably recent immigrant into the Midlands. I’ve spent the last couple of years in the Midlands, having spent 11 years previously in London and I think the big takeaway for me is that we have entrepreneurs, success stories, talent, ideas and innovation – but we don’t do a good enough job of bringing that together and telling our story. I spend a fair amount of time in London within the investment community and the likes and I find that you’re still having to educate investors that the Midlands area isn’t just about the manufacturing and automotive industry. We have a good technology cluster up here that are doing really interesting things. Birmingham and the Midlands are tiny in comparison to London, but it’s not about volume it's more about value and quality of what we have. And so, we’ve got to package that up and tell the story a bit more coherently and certainly a bit more forcefully. What can we do to tell the story about Birmingham and the Midlands tech scene? We need to understand and make sure that when we are talking about the Midlands tech scene that we are including all the exciting range of tech businesses in the Midlands region, from Birmingham to Solihull to Leamington Spa. In order to sell to investors and corporates in London and overseas. Yes, the conversation of tech innovation will start in the west midlands as a base, as that is where we have the scale, but we need to be upfront about where exactly in the Midlands tech is thriving. Historically Birmingham and the Midlands has always been at the forefront of the industrial revolution and manufacturing. Do you think this hinders the image of the Midlands Tech scene? It probably does, but all the things you associate the Midlands with, from manufacturing to automotive, aerospace and the public sector etc – all of these areas are going through massive technological transformation. We need to tailor the conversation of automotive, manufacturing and aerospace around the fact that there is a new supply chain of interesting and innovative businesses in the Midlands. Why might tech businesses in the Midlands area struggle to find investment and funding? There are some businesses in the Midlands that require early-stage funding but there are also companies that have gained customers and growth early on and don’t need funding. It’s all about understanding what the businesses in the region need and require for success, as all are not the same. The tech sector in the Midlands is not homogenous. For those that do need more funding, we need to continue telling the story around the Midlands tech scene to generate and attract investment. "We need to paint a picture to candidates that for that next stage of your life and next career move, the Midlands is a great place to be." How do we retain and attract tech professionals, particularly those that live outside of the Midlands? We know we have interesting and successful tech stories to tell, so let’s tell them and not be shy about promoting a great career opportunity and the great businesses we have in the region. There are the big manufacturing and aerospace businesses in the Midlands that do have big name recognition when you think of the region, but that’s not all of our economy. I spent 75% of my time with the SME’s, which gives you some indication of where our focus is from a technology perspective – it’s the earlier stage, high growth, high potential businesses who are looking for graduate, entry-level talent and more experienced hires. That is where the demand is coming from and we need to re-orientate that talent base to that population of companies and not just big businesses in the area. Major selling points [for relocating for a job in the Midlands] would be quality of life and that there are businesses here that would be of interest to you and your career progression. In particular, if you are worried about uprooting your family or life to relocate to the Midlands and for whatever reason 12 months in, it doesn’t work out at that particular role. There are a cluster of other great tech businesses in the west midlands that are diverse and that can offer a range of other opportunities and career progression. Quality of life in the Midlands is substantially different to that of London and we need to paint a picture to candidates that for that next stage of your life and next career move, the Midlands is a great place to be. What’s the most important piece of advice that you’d give to a leader of a tech startup? So to compare and contrast London and Birmingham; In London, it is very easy to find someone who has been there done it [in terms of building a start-up and gaining investment etc] and who can guide and mentor you. In Birmingham that is much harder to find, as we don’t have a coherent network and cluster that works, but it does exist. Whether it’s organisations like KPMG that use our own network to bring people together, Silicon Canal or public sector groups. They do exist, so go and find them, and it’s worth spending some time connecting with someone who has been there and done it and can help, will pay dividends. "The 5G rollout will be a great potential regional asset but also an inward investment asset." Can you tell us more about the 5G rollout in the West Midlands area and what you think the impact on businesses will be? The 5G rollout will be a great potential regional asset but also an inward investment asset. Inviting other businesses to do something interesting on this new disruptive, technology platform based in the Midlands. What’s interesting about the 5G rollout is that it’s not going to be accelerated by purely having a 5G enabled handset and being able to download films quicker etc. It’s all about industrial and enterprise user cases for it, and it comes back to how do we connect our historic industrial strengths in terms of the industry to this new world - 5G can be one of these connective tissues to do it. If the region wants to compete on the world stage, we need to differentiate ourselves, and if we can create 5G as an asset that we can take overseas and invite businesses to build on top of this – it will really help us to do so. In terms of the social impact, if you look at the sectors 5G is being utilised on, you’ve got citizen wellbeing, mobility, property and construction. A major focus will be on how you can utilise 5G and citizen wellbeing by pre-empting illness, accidents etc, and how we can use tech for good. All opportunities that will be available with 5G are able to put the Midlands region on the map in terms of an international stage. It will also demonstrate to the talent upcoming from local universities and outside of the region that there are some really great, interesting and experimental things going on in tech in the region. "We are in a global race for talent and any barriers are going to impact things." How do you feel Brexit will affect or is already affecting the digital tech sector both locally (Midlands) and nationally? The tech sector has been less affected by the conversation around Brexit than others, and the UK is still a great place to invest and in terms of international investment, there hasn’t been any slowing down of that. There is, however, the question about talent. We are in a global race for talent and any barriers are going to impact things. So, what we need is some certainty to overcome the negative stories about the difficulty of being able to get high-class talent from overseas. We need to make sure we are telling that story consistently and that people can still come to the UK. A lot that has happened over the past 6 months in terms of some of the visa regulations and requirements are being looked at and relaxed. I also think there is a massive opportunity for the Midlands. What we have seen certainly over the second half of 2018 and certainly into 2019, you’ve got all this money that’s coming into the UK because it’s a great place to start and grow a tech business. But, in London valuations have gone up and you’ve got a lot of money that can’t necessarily meet those valuation expectations and so they are looking elsewhere. Which means there is a massive opportunity for the Midlands tech sector to say, London is great, but how about looking at the Midlands, we have the companies, talent and entrepreneurs here. What are you most excited about for the future of tech in the Midlands? If you look at the talent we’ve got, the companies we have and are just starting to create, you’ve got a time period probably from now to say 3 years, where they are going to really start to make a mark on the industry. That’s going to be really exciting as that will then generate the interest in the area, generate this gravitational pull into the region and just watching and to be a part of that will be really exciting. In 5 years’ time, where do you think things will be from a technology perspective? From a regional perspective, we have to hope that these ‘break out’ companies in relation to competing on a world stage are anchor points for the region. That if you are in London or the west coast. People will recognise that they are midlands-based businesses and that there is something going on. The hope is that over a 3-5-year timescale you have those businesses that are recognisable to the tech sector. ​ Are you a candidate looking for a new role in the Midlands, take a look at our latest tech jobs here. Businesses based in Birmingham looking to recruit tech talent? Get in touch with us via the form below. Form ID:4549

On a clear sunny day on the 10th floor of Crossways building in Birmingham, I was joined by Tim Kay, Head of Technology & Media at KPMG. I invited Tim to speak about the current situation of the Midlands technology scene and what followed was an insightful discussion covering; The challenges midlands businesses face The lack of investment for start-ups and early-stage businesses in the area Talent and skills shortages Exciting plans for the 5G rollout We also discussed the Midlands history in relation to the industrial revolution and manufacturing, retaining technology talent in the area and the plans for the future of tech in the Midlands. Take a look at the full interview below. I’d love to know what you thought of the talk and if you have anything to add in relation to the topics discussed, get in touch with me at rick@eligo.co.uk. .

Another year, another Perl Conference. It has been my sixth year attending and first-year co-organising The Perl Conference and this year’s TPCiG was just as enjoyable as previous. TPCiG 2018 was held in the city of Glasgow and Perl Mongers, Developers, Administrators, Technical Managers and everyone interested in Perl showed up to discuss and celebrate all things Perl. By meeting old faces and new, the conference was never short of enthusiasm and positivity and I have come away from Glasgow with confidence in the strength of the Perl jobs market, with many opportunities out there for Perl developers looking for a change. After a great week spent at TPCiG, I am definitely looking forward to next year’s Perl conference in Riga! It’s clear to see that the Perl community is one of the languages biggest assets. It’s often these events and the Perl community where you are reminded about the continual resilience and progress Perl holds and the sheer love and passion its users have for it. Which is why I don’t really need to convince you to attend a Perl conference – but here are 3 reasons to convince even the biggest tech conference sceptics. Continuous learning – (Great Perl talks!) One of the best things about tech and Perl conferences is not only the chance to talk about Perl and its market with other like-minded people, but also the opportunity to learn new things about Perl through various talks and workshops. Due to the vast schedule at The Perl Conference, you could be learning how to build a concurrent version control system, how to use databases in Perl 5 and how to write a Perl 6 module, to learning how to rescue a legacy codebase and how to become a CPAN contributor – the options are endless! The benefits of attending these talks (and continuous learning in general) can help develop your personal skill set and your career in the long run, enabling you to adapt to changes in your job and in life! Make new friends and connections Perl conferences are fantastic places to network and there are plenty of opportunities to do so, from the pre-conference reception and the coffee breaks in-between to the Perl conference dinner. Not everyone attends Meetups with networking in mind, it just happens naturally. My advice is to take full advantage of networking at The Perl Conferences, as it’s a great way to get yourself out there to meet future employers. It’s also a great way to interact with peers and recruiters in the Perl market. Not to mention, everyone is welcoming and it’s likely that you will make some friends for life! Career and Market Advice Another great part of The Perl Conferences and exhibitions is the abundance of Perl jobs and job market advice available. Be sure to take advantage of the free handouts from those exhibiting at The Perl Conference, aside from the usual free pens and notebooks, if you are searching for a job or open to new Perl jobs, there are also some great career advice documents on offer. Wendy and Nick enjoying the beer! This year we were handing out branded Beer and Ale to attendees of the event, but we also had some great market advice documents – like The Perl Report. So there you have it, 3 great reasons why you should attend a Perl conference! What else do you love about Perl conferences? Let me know – tweet me at @PerlRick! Also be sure to check out these blogs below for community member experiences of the event! Thomas Klausner (‎domm‎): The European Perl Conference 2018 in Glasgow Dave Cross (‎davorg‎): The Perl Conference in Glasgow Sam Anderson (‎Sam‎): My First Perl Conference Mohammad Anwar (‎manwar‎): The Perl Conference in Glasgow – Report Lance Wicks: The European Perl Conference in Glasgow (#TPCiG #yapceu2018) aka YAPC::EU::2018 Kivanc Yazan: Two Perl Conferences in One Year Reasons to download Eligo’s Perl Report Know what you should be earning with the latest UK Perl Developer salaries Learn about the latest insights from the Perl community; from ​the most favoured Perl frameworks to the most popular methodology. Find out about the latest remuneration trends, and what job satisfactions are most popular with developers If that’s not reason enough to take a peek at our Eligo Perl Report, then I owe you a beer! Download our Perl Report here.