Feature
Gateshead College: Cracking the code to skills change
November 13, 2025
Recruitment challenges can risk short-circuiting even the strongest growth plans. So when global technology firm Sage found itself in need of reshaping its approach to talent development, it turned to Gateshead College. The solution was the eight-week Skills Bootcamps in Digital course, which complements online tuition with significant face-to- face support, and guarantees participants an interview at its conclusion. Colin Young spent a day at Sage – meeting Ronnie Peet, the company’s global director of data and customer data platform delivery; Monika Sharma, Gateshead College’s curriculum leader; and ex-chef-turned-Sage employee Jamie Nichol – to find out more.
Words by Colin Young
Photography by Andrew Lowe
Jamie Nichol, associate developer in Sage’s software development team
Jamie Nichol began training as a chef the day after he left school at 16.
Starting as an apprentice in a pub near Beamish, County Durham, he worked his way up from veg cutter to secure a job in the restaurant at the Sage in Gateshead, before becoming head chef in a renowned Northumberland pub.
Six years ago, at the age of 26, after the pub had been put up for sale, and increasingly drained by the notorious demands and long hours of the hospitality industry, Jamie started looking for a fresh career.
The turning point was signing up for an eight-week Gateshead College digital training bootcamp programme.
Jamie, from Stanley, says: “I was good friends with the boss at the pub, because we worked together every day, and when he said he was selling up and leaving, I knew it was the right time to get out and train in something else.
“I’d always been quite interested in computers, and got obsessed with building them up and wanting to know how they worked, so I signed up for a computer course, firstly to progress on to university.
“That’s when I found out about the bootcamps; working on the software development aspect was perfect for me.
“It was very intense, and a lot of really hard work, but it was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
He embraced his software development studies and walked into the many open doors of opportunity at Sage’s three huge office blocks on Cobalt Business Park, near Wallsend.
After his interview, he was offered a job, along with two other highly-rated and motivated Gateshead students.
Now 30, he is an associate developer in the software development team.
Sage, with a global office estate boasting in excess of 40 bases, has been transforming the North East’s economic landscape for more than 40 years as a leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology.
And the company, whose network of nearly 13,000 jobs across the globe stem from its North Tyneside base, has altered its recruitment strategy to create better routes into sustainable careers in STEM – moving beyond purely graduate-level roles to provide more opportunities for people to stay and work in the North East.
Central to that shift are Gateshead College’s bootcamps, with Ronnie Peet, the firm’s global director of data and customer data platform delivery, reserving special praise for Monika Sharma, the education provider’s curriculum leader.
Monika Sharma, Gateshead College curriculum leader
He says: “We know that if Monika recommends them, they’re going to be good.
“We don’t have to spend loads of time on interviews and searching through job boards.
“You have a trusted seal of approval, so you know when people join, they’re going to be good,” says Ronnie, who has worked for Sage for more than 15 years.
He adds: “It didn’t take long to realise there’s a myth in the North East that there aren’t many IT jobs – companies aren’t great at advertising the jobs out there.
“And I was staggered to find out about the barriers women see in IT.
“We’ve totally changed our recruitment advert and more people are interested.
“What Jamie did was a brave move.
“It’s a huge step to throw it all up in the air, learn something different and see how the chips come down.
“But the college will always be there to help, and through its courses – including the bootcamps – you can learn sought-after skills, make the right career decisions and earn good salaries.”
The Skills Bootcamps in Digital course was initially set up by Gateshead College through the Government’s Skills for Life campaign, and continues to develop with North East Combined Authority funding to retrain and upskill adults in industries with employee shortages.
An integral part of the digital bootcamp, and its success, has been the partnership between the college and industry, with Sage at the forefront, providing opportunities and filling vacancies.
Ronnie Peet, Sage global director of data and customer data platform delivery
And thanks to Monika, the partnership continues to evolve.
Originating from Kent, Monika made her own significant career change, having previously worked in theatre at venues including Sunderland Empire and Gala Durham.
She’s eager, in this hands-on role, to stem the brain drain from the region, and is passionate about creating better opportunities for everyone in STEM.
She says: “The bootcamps are a way of quickly upskilling people, from completely different backgrounds and who have no digital experience, allowing them to make that pivot and get them into new and completely different careers.
“And for parents, or people with caring responsibilities, the courses allow them to be a little bit more flexible with the change of working styles.
“Plus, there’s employability guidance, because not everyone is necessarily ready for the workplace.
“There are jobs available, but there’s a real recruitment problem because so many jobs are still asking for five or ten years’ experience.
“Everyone talks about a skills gap, but what we’ve found is that there isn’t a skills gap at all.
“It’s not necessarily a case of taking a graduate with ten years’ experience, but getting people into these roles early and nurturing them.
“What we’re trying to show, especially through the model we’ve worked on with Sage, is how a changing of the mindset can help firms become more open to recruiting people with less experience, but who still have the skills they need.
“We have learners, we can upskill them and we can get them ready for the workplace.
“If you take someone early in their career, it creates a sense of loyalty towards that organisation and they stay for the long term, developing more skills over time.
“Ronnie and I are both neuro-divergent and we’re passionate about increasing the diversity of the workforce in terms of gender and ethnic background, but also people who are neuro-divergent, supporting them into the workplace and making sure it’s somewhere they can go.”
The bootcamps are held three times each year – the next course is in January – and in addition to the day-and-a-half online learning over eight weeks, the college also provides support on employability through trainer/assessor Chelsea Kirchner.
Monika says: “It is intense.
“I don’t sugarcoat it.
“They’re called bootcamps for a reason.
“But learners get wraparound support every step of the way.
“We know it’s very hard for people to change what they’ve always done, so our courses are designed with the intention of going into work, rather than further training.
“University isn’t for everyone.
“It’s not about flicking a switch and saying, ‘you’re not a chef anymore, you are now working in digital’.
“It’s more about what a person can bring from their old job to this new career, and how they can use those transferable skills to be successful in the workplace.”
Monika adds: “Chelsea is absolutely incredible in bringing the students out of their shells and talking about resilience.
“She thinks about all the challenges they have in their lives, and how they can use that moving forward.
“That’s possibly one of the most valuable parts of the programme because digital is a little bit different to other industries in the way it’s managed, the agile methodologies and the project work.”