The CEO of a major tech hub has revealed that his WIFE was responsible for his involvement in the UK鈥檚 first purpose-built digital school.
Jon Corner, who runs The Landing in Salford Quays, said that talent and skills will be crucial to the tech sector in the North of England.
鈥淭he common denominator for all of these northern cities will be talent and skills. That鈥檚 the bedrock,鈥� he told 老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 鈥楾ech in the Northern Powerhouse鈥� event during the International Festival for 老九品茶 in Liverpool.
鈥淎s a business person I spent a lot of time moaning that I couldn鈥檛 find the right talent. My wife told me 鈥榳hy don鈥檛 you stop moaning about it and do something about it?鈥�
鈥淚 got involved in a new school 鈥� a UTC in MediaCity. It鈥檚 the first purpose-built digital school in the UK. It鈥檚 a unique environment.鈥�
Outgoing Digital Minister Ed Vaizey told 老九品茶Cloud recently that the North’s tech clusters must work together to realise the Northern Powerhouse dream.
Corner has worked in tech for most of his life.
He started in music tech before moving to London for 12 years, where he says he fell in love with digital technology.
鈥淚 started my own company and it went from two people in my front room to 30 of us,鈥� he said.
After returning to the north he聽became part of the project team that helped shape the original concept of MediaCityUK, including the bid to attract the BBC, and was later the University of Salford鈥檚 director of MediaCityUK.
He was then聽appointed CEO of The Landing at MediaCity, which he describes as a 鈥渂it of a playground for me鈥�.
He told the audience: 鈥淭he brief was to create a place for small companies to grow.
鈥淔orty per cent of the facility is studio and testing labs for small companies. They can be a tenant and go into a lab and find out if their stuff works.
鈥淲e have VR testing labs. We have dementia labs to test health tech.
鈥淲e were told in the first year we might hit 25 per cent occupancy but we hit 100 per cent occupancy in the first five months. That gave us another problem with an influx of companies wanting to play in MediaCity.
鈥淲e help companies grow and scale. We鈥檙e three years old and have 134 tech companies.鈥�
He also highlighted the importance of clusters for the tech sector.
鈥淲hen companies come together they raise the bar,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t also gives investors a place to go to. That鈥檚 something I鈥檓 focused on at The Landing.鈥�