School of Coding to create 100 jobs in three years

School of Coding, the UK’s largest coding and computer science educator for children and adults, is also looking to reach £50 million turnover within the next five years as it continues to enjoy strong growth.

The Wolverhampton-based company was founded in 2017 by Manny Athwal and since then Manny and his wife Sandeep Athwal have taken the company from their bedroom to a multi-office organisation.

“We started as a one-man band and are now a multi-million pound company, employing over 50 members of staff here in the UK and abroad. We are looking to recruit further 100 members of staff over the next 36 months here in the UK,” Manny said.

“We worked really hard during the pandemic. We received a postcard from the Queen thanking us for the free workshops we put on for families, that really helped to build the brand. Over the last five years we have worked with big name clients such as Toyota, European Council, JP Morgan and others.

“But more importantly, I think government organisations are recognising what we are trying to do here and bridge the current digital skills gap.

“We want turnover to be £50m in the next five to seven years and I am confident we can achieve that with our new courses for teachers in Europe, which are due to commence in April 2023.

“Our long-term aim is to become a multi-billion pound company that is at the heart of the digital revolution founded in the Midlands.”

As a West Midlands-based business, Manny said they are keen to offer job opportunities to people in the region as the business continues to grow.

Sandeep Athwal, who leads recruitment for the company, said: “These are exciting times in our next growth phase and we will be looking at taking on more teachers, trainers and teaching administrators.

“What is important to us is to be able to create jobs in the local area – the Black Country, Staffordshire, Shropshire.

“We don’t want people to leave this region and seek employment opportunities elsewhere.”

Manny launched the business in Wolverhampton after he lost his high-flying job working for a large hedge fund back in 2016.

Desperate to provide for his young family, he took whatever work he could to get by but was struggling to make ends meet. At his lowest point, he recalls being unable to afford his train fare home following a long shift at work and spending the night on the platform at Shrewsbury train station.

As the CEO of the company, Manny now heads up the UK’s largest coding school, which delivers after school clubs, coding workshops, holiday clubs, and adult education courses.

Manny said: “We are trying to encourage people to take up coding to boost their chances of employment.

“Knowing how coding works and how things are built is really important. Not knowing how coding works will be like not knowing how to read or write in the next 10 to 15 years.”

Looking ahead, Manny added: “We want to ensure every child and adult in the UK have at least some exposure to coding and then we’ll move on to the rest of the world.

“We develop software here and are going to launch an e-learning platform for primary schools this year.

“We have already managed to partner with universities across Europe on research projects and carry out delivery of teacher training.

“We are looking to grow into Sweden and Spain in the next 12 months. Places like India are also on our radar.”