Independent training provider Northcoders, which specialises in providing training programmes for software coding, has grown its senior team with the appointment of Steven Oakes as director of marketing.
Oakes will lead, plan and execute Northcoders’ marketing strategies for its existing product range as well as for all new launches. He will also work closely with the board on identifying new business opportunities, reviewing changes to the market, and advising on core consumer trends.
Steven joins Northcoders from Shoot The Moon Group where he was group digital director. During his six-year tenure there, he held various positions and was instrumental in its acquisition of JGM in 2019 and its merger with Delineo two years later.
Following the merger with Delineo, Steven sat on the group board and leadership team of the newly formed STM_GRP. He was responsible for digital work across the group of 90-plus people and five agencies which had a combined turnover of £6.5m.
Steven has also worked at Red C Marketing, Bauer Media, Hidden Creative and Universal Music. In 1999, he founded his own digital marketing agency, Design Esti, which created websites for the likes of Elbow, Stereophonics and Underworld and worked with Sony Music, Universal and EMI on a broad range of digital marketing campaigns.
Commenting on his new role, Oakes made diversity a cornerstone of his plans at Nothcoders: “Coming from an agency background, I knew first-hand the issues around trying to recruit good quality software developers along with the lack of diversity and inclusion in the industry,” he said. “Northcoders’ mission is to address that head on. We are living in a time where technology is defining what it means to be human, and I believe that our future should be built by people from all walks of life. My new role will allow me to help lower those barriers and make careers in tech as inclusive as possible.”
Northcoders was founded in 2015 and has flagship sites in Manchester and Leeds as well as hubs in Newcastle and Birmingham. Since its first course in 2015, it has helped over 1,000 people switch careers into tech. It has also launched scholarship schemes and a deferred payment programme aimed at women and gender minorities, as well as those who identify as BAME or LGBTQ+, have a disability or have had limited access to education, to help address diversity in tech.
