Two of Lineal’s youngest team members recently featured in an exciting video project aimed at introducing young people to careers in technology.

The Digital Skills Series is a joint project by Devon County Council & the Heart of the South West LEP which interviews ‘Digital Pioneers’ among some of the South West’s most innovative tech companies, and aims to get Key Stage 3 students interested in the amazing opportunities that are available in the digital sector.

It is hoped that the scheme will help promote apprenticeships, degree apprenticeships, work experience and other kinds of placement that help promote much-needed technical skills in the sector.

One recent survey of tech companies in the South West suggested more than half of businesses struggle to find recruits for technical roles, and that the region needs to do more to work with schools, local and central government to overcome the skills shortage.

Lineal have supported apprenticeships for over a decade, and are featuring in this video project for the second time in recent years. The short video-interviews will be shown to school children across the area as part of a series, and we hope it will help inspire the next generation of digital pioneers.

Our thanks to Alex, Harry, and Ocean City Media for their hard work towards this fantastic educational project. You can learn more about the Digital Skills Series here: https://skillslaunchpad.org.uk/ks3digital/digital-pioneers/

For IT support and expertise, please contact our team here.

Lineal’s IT security apprentice Lewis Marrow has won a Petroc Outstanding Achievement Award for the 2017 academic year.

The award was presented by VP of Finance and Resources, Bill Blythe, in a ceremony at the Barnstaple Hotel to congratulate prize winners from across the Higher Education college’s student body.

Lewis is one of Petroc’s few Degree Apprentices, studying for University undergraduate degree level qualifications whilst also working as part of Lineal’s frontline IT support team. Lewis takes a keen interest in cybersecurity, and has demonstrated advanced security skills in addition to educating employees of Lineal clients on how to use technology safely.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Blythe praised all the winners, many of whom are beginning careers training with some of Devon’s best known companies across diverse sectors including accounting, computing, construction and engineering.

Lineal’s Head of Technical Services Matt Norris congratulated Lewis on his professional development:

“Lewis’ progress and contribution as part of our team has been fantastic – we expect this won’t be the last time Lewis wins an award. Training in partnership with Petroc helps us add important skills, and some exemplary individuals, to our team”

Congratulations Lewis!

Lineal are proud of our role investing in skills and people, and our growing office now includes two talented new apprentices looking to develop their technical know-how.

Apprenticeships provide a vital way for trainee staff to develop specialist industry skills, highly-sought after by employers, at an early age.

In the second of our recent ‘new faces’ features, we welcome these two new valuable members of our IT Support team:

   Lewis Marrow

Lewis joins our IT support team from Petroc as our first ‘Degree Apprentice’, pursuing education and training in tandem. He’ll join our main IT support team on the frontline to help resolve customers’ IT queries and help improve their system security.

Focused on security in particular, Lewis has even demonstrated Lineal’s ability track email fraudsters, and aims to become a cyber-security specialist.

   Luke Woolacott

Luke joins us an Apprentice to support Lineal’s workshop – expanding our ability to turn around repairs more quickly, and deliver more ambitious hardware and cabling projects, both in-house and on-site.

Always hands-on with technology, Luke previously worked for one of North Devon’s best known retail companies before pursuing a new career with Lineal.

Lineal’s George

Congratulations to Lineal’s George Ward, who has won a Petroc award, in recognition of his improvement over the past year.

Apprentice George will become 2014-15 academic year’s proud recipient of the local higher education college’s ‘Most Improved Student’ award from the Department of Leadership and Higher Technical Skills Awards Evening, sponsored by North Devon Orthodontic Centre.

The prize-giving ceremony was held on Wednesday 23rd March at the Barnstaple Hotel.

This is high-flyer George’s second major award in two years, after winning the North Devon Journal Business Awards ‘Apprentice of the Year’ in 2015.

Well done George!