Recruiting international
graduates is not always easy for small businesses - but they can plug crucial skills’
gaps and support the regional economy, according to Northumbria alumni and
entrepreneur Mark Renney.
As founder and Managing
Director of tech and software company Wubbleyou, Mark has been building his business since 2009. The
Newcastle-based company specialises in building scalable software for clients,
helping businesses develop more quickly through leveraging technology. Accelerated
growth in the past five years has created recruitment opportunities for
Wubbleyou, and recently Mark has hired two international graduates from
Northumbria to add to the company’s skills base. Nigerian Vincent Onyeabor has
joined as an Associate IT Analyst, and Divya Behera from India is an Associate
Project Manager. Both Vincent and Divya are being sponsored by Wubbleyou
through the Skilled Worker Visa programme.
On the standard Graduate
Visa programme, international graduates can currently work in the UK for up to
two years after graduation. Businesses can extend this period of employment up
to five years by sponsoring foreign nationals through the Skilled Worker Visa
programme, once they have been granted a licence by the Home Office. Mark says obtaining
the licence can be challenging and costly, but he insists the payback for
Wubbleyou has been significant and he believes many other small businesses and
SME’s in the North East could benefit in the same way by opening new
recruitment potential.
Mark explained: “Demand for top IT talent can be extremely high, especially given
the growing ambitions and growing number of innovative and scaling tech
businesses in the area. As a small but growing business we wanted to have the ability
to invest in this top talent and be to able offer employment to skilled
international graduates beyond the standard short-term Graduate Work Visa. So
we took the plunge and went through the process required to sponsor foreign
nationals on the longer term Skilled Worker Visa Sponsorship.”
Wubbleyou is one of only an estimated 300 small
businesses in the region to have completed this process, a small number Mark
believes is due largely to the cost and administrative time it puts on
employers. He added: “There are barriers
and blockers, and I can understand why small businesses are reluctant. It can
be burdensome and frankly quite scary, with very little help available without
paying for third party assistance. Information on the Government website can
also seem opaque. However, once you have gone through the process it becomes a
lot less daunting, and I would say to other small businesses that the benefits
can be considerable. For us, it was a win-win to bring in great people
who want to live and work in the UK. International graduates are smart and motivated, they offer
diversity and new ways of thinking and in my view, they have already
demonstrated a high level of initiative and commitment by travelling halfway
around the world to study,
“We have also worked with the Graduates Futures
team at Northumbria for a number of years, and they have been extremely
supportive again in helping us find the right people in Vincent and Divya.”
Vincent Onyeabor graduated from Northumbria this year with an MSc
in Information Science (Data Analytics). As well as being a highly qualified
graduate, he also has considerable work experience in sales and client
management in his home country of Nigeria. Vincent began working for Wubbleyou in 2022 as
business analyst while still studying. He said: “I didn’t want to wait until I
graduated to start looking for work so I applied through Northumbria’s Graduate
Futures team who really helped me with my CV and in finding the right
employment opportunities. Using the Graduate Futures team really does give you
access to companies who are looking to recruit people with your skill sets.
“Working for Wubbleyou has been a profound learning experience for
me. They are a great team and Mark has so much knowledge which I continue to
benefit from through his coaching. At the same time, completing my master’s
while simultaneously working allowed me to bring fresh insights to the team,
which not only deepened my expertise but also bolstered my capacity to
contribute to projects. Looking ahead, I’m excited about the many opportunities that
the future holds, as Wubbleyou continues its growth trajectory - and in
providing innovative solutions to our current and future clients.”
Divya Behera, from Hyderabad in India, Graduated in 2022 with a Masters
degree in Business Management and Advanced Practice. She said: “Through the
Graduate Futures team at Northumbria I started applying for roles and with
their help began working with Wubbleyou as an Associate project Manager in
January this year. As part of the team my role is to strengthen project management,
helping resolve any issues in areas such as time tracking and budgets and maintaining
good client relationships. It is a challenging role but a fantastic experience
and the team at Wubbleyou are fantastic to work with.”
Wubbleyou currently has 13 people, annual turnover of around
£500,000 and projected growth of up to 20% per year.
Graham Baty, Head of Enterprise Development at Northumbria, said:
“We provide a range of enterprise support at Northumbria, including business
advice, mentoring, incubator hub facilities and other services and have worked
with Wubbleyou since its inception as a start-up in 2009, when Mark was still a
student here. So it is incredibly
rewarding to see the company’s continuing success, and the job opportunities
being created for our high-quality graduates like Vincent and Divya. Northumbria
is known for its entrepreneurial students and graduates generating wealth and
employment for the region, and Wubbleyou is a perfect example of this.”
