Tuesday

About Tech Talent Live

Experts will explore the growing demand for green skills, highlighting the importance of reskilling and upskilling in renewable energy, circular economy, and sustainable practices. They will discuss workforce challenges, policy support, and practical steps businesses can take to thrive in a low-carbon economy.

Exhibitors at Tech Talent Live

Browse some of the fantastic companies exhibiting at Tech Talent Live.

Tech Talent Live Lightning Talks

All lightning talks were held in Committee Room 1, an easily accessible room overlooking the main careers fair hall. The talks typically lasted 10 to 15 minutes per subject.

Schedule:

15:00 – Breaking into Tech: No Technical Experience? No Problem!
Discover how people from retail, music, healthcare and more are building new tech careers through low code platforms, self-learning and support from inclusive communities. This session will share powerful real-life stories and practical advice to help you confidently take your first step into tech without a traditional background.

15:30 – Why Can’t Women Thrive in Tech?
With women facing unique challenges in tech, this session will provide actionable strategies to overcome barriers like imposter syndrome and bias. You’ll gain practical advice on building confidence, developing key skills, and expanding your network to thrive in the tech sector.

16:00 – Ever Wondered About Public Sector Tech Jobs? It’s More Exciting Than You Think!
Think public sector tech is all red tape? Think again. This fast-paced session unveils how digital roles in government shape essential services used by millions, from tax collection to digital operations across departments. Discover how you can make a real impact while enjoying benefits like flexibility, job security, and room to grow. No matter your background, this could be your most exciting move yet!

16:30 – The Secret Skills That Get You Hired (and Promoted)
While technical skills open doors, soft skills like communication, adaptability, and collaboration drive career growth. This session will highlight the key soft skills tech employers value most and provide actionable tips on how to develop and showcase them.

17:00 – Want to Innovate? Try Content Design.
Discover how content design plays a crucial role in driving innovation within the tech sector. This session will introduce you to the skills and opportunities in content design and provide clear steps to start your career.

17:30 – What if 15 minutes could shed light on why your CV gets ghosted?
In this quick lightning talk you will learn about common CV pitfalls that prevent your application from standing out and practical tips to avoid them. This session is perfect for job seekers who want to make simple and effective improvements without rewriting their entire resume.

Overview

Experts will explore the growing demand for green skills, highlighting the importance of reskilling and upskilling in renewable energy, circular economy, and sustainable practices. They will discuss workforce challenges, policy support, and practical steps businesses can take to thrive in a low-carbon economy.

Attend Tech Talent Live

Speakers

Bethan Richmond
Bethan Richmond
Digital Inclusion Programme Lead
Capgemini
As Digital Inclusion Programme Lead for Capgemini UK, Bethan is responsible for helping realise the technology company’s belief that the digital revolution should be an opportunity for all. Passionate about collaboration and skills sharing as ways to address digital skills gaps in communities, she drives the company’s relationships with national charity partners and leads the company wide, mission-oriented, employee volunteering programme. Over her 14 year career in corporate responsibility and sustainability, she’s co-created and delivered several national programmes with these charities and has built provision for hundreds of Capgemini employees to share their skills and expertise for purposeful and positive social impact each year. Bethan also has qualified teacher status and has completed a Masters in Sustainability and Business Leadership at the University of Cambridge, where, she continues as a course assessor to the CISL online Business Sustainability Management course.
Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson
Technical Director
QGEMS Energy Ltd
Mark Thompson is passionate about harnessing technology to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future. As Technical Director at QGEMS Energy Ltd, he leads the development of innovative cloud platforms that help balance and stabilize modern energy grids.

A Chartered IT Professional and Certified Scrum Master with over 25 years of experience, Mark has designed scalable, secure systems across industries including renewables, EV telemetry and charging, smart manufacturing, and military applications. His work focuses on security, data sovereignty, and practical AI — enabling intelligent and efficient energy use.
Mark fosters collaborative environments where experts from diverse disciplines can drive innovation. His recent work includes applying machine learning to forecast building energy demand and deploying IoT technologies to support more sustainable infrastructure.

At heart, Mark is a technologist committed to building solutions that serve both people and the planet.
Mark Adamson
Mark Adamson
Principal Manager - Sectoral Growth and Delivery
North East Combined Authority
Mark is an experienced Executive who has worked in both the commercial and public sectors across the creative and cultural sectors, professional services, manufacturing and higher education industries, and has previously been lead for Creative Industries at both the Regional Development Agency One North East, and at Arts Council England North East.
Mark joined the North East Combined Authority in October 2023, having previously been Project Director for five years for the cross-university project Creative Fuse North East. A key part of his current role includes leading on the strategic development and delivery of the Culture, Creative, Tourism and Sport portfolio for the Combined Authority, working with partners and stakeholders to develop the North East as an exemplar model for cultural place making, cementing its appeal as a place to visit, live, and work and growing the region’s creative and digital industries as part of the ambitions in the North East Local Growth Plan. In addition, Mark’s team also includes responsibility for supporting wider programme delivery including supporting digital ecosystem development, innovation, business support and access to finance.
Navin Kumar
Navin Kumar
Managing Director
Primed Talent
Navin is a seasoned business leader who has worked across both private and public sector ecosystems, with a track record of founding and scaling ventures in talent transformation, technology-led operational solutions, leadership development, and digital services. He is the CEO and Founder of a group of companies iPRIMED, Primed Talent, effiEase, and Emenkae that operate across the education, employability, and enterprise efficiency spectrum.
In 2016, he launched Primed Talent in the UK to support workforce transformation through reskilling, training-led recruitment, and service delivery models that expand talent pools while maintaining quality and cost efficiency. His most recent ventures, Emenkae and effiEase, focus respectively on executive search and technology-enabled operational efficiency for businesses navigating change.
Navin also serves as Adjunct Faculty and continues to contribute to thought leadership in the domains of learning, workforce innovation, and sustainable operations. His work today spans strategic leadership, systems design, and the integration of human-centric technology to drive inclusive and scalable impact across sectors.

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How to get involved

1

Please read the information back below, and then fill out an expression of interest form. This will let us know you’d like to take part, what age the participating children are and whether you’d like any support from us or an ‘industry mentor.’

2

Plan your challenge, consider your resources and the participating students. Challenges can be completed in small or large groups. but please be aware that only 8-10 students from selected schools will be able to attend the celebration event.

3

Submit your challenge responses via our online form below. Your school can submit up to 10 entries. The deadline for responses is Friday 9 May, 2025. Please get in touch if you are struggling to meet the deadline.

The Schools Challenge steering committee will identify a small group of students from selected schools to be invited to a celebration event on the morning of Friday 20 June at South Shields Customs House.

If selected, you will be invited to attend by 23 May. There will also be an opportunity to display students‘ work as part of a number of public
exhibitions across local authority areas.

If you have any issues, contact us via email: getinvolved@technext.co.uk

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Faraday Room Programme

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Studio 1 Programme

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