IT COMPANY OGL Computer has been one of the first in the county to take part in Opening Doors for Business 2016, an event to give students an insight into local businesses and the potential career opportunities available.

The company hosted students aged between 13-14 from Hagley RC School, who attended a workshop and presentation at OGL’s head office in Stourport-on-Severn. Staff at OGL gave presentations on how technology is ever changing, the impact it has on modern life and the role OGL plays in the industry.

OGL’s software development manager Nick Davies and internal trainer Chris Weetman led the presentations and were joined by technical apprentice Alex Benkins, who started working at OGL last year on an apprenticeship scheme and will join OGL full time later this year after completing his education.

Joanne Day, recruitment specialist at OGL, said: “We believe that growing our own talent pool is vital to our long-term success. In our experience, the young people that come to us often don’t realise the variety of roles that are available. IT is such a vast subject and we have roles spanning service desk engineers, field engineers, web developers, software application developers, software testers as well as other roles in sales, marketing, hr, finance, project management and administration.”

Neil Morris, operations director of OGL, added: "When I took up the role of chairman of ReWyre, it was my vision to focus our agenda on grass roots business issues. ReWyre is all about creating a positive environment for businesses, visitors and investors in Kidderminster and Wyre Forest. The ReWyre board members, made up of local business leaders and Wyre Forest District Council, want to do something proactive to bridge the skills gap we have in the area. One of the ways we are doing this is to engage young people to show them that there are exciting and wide ranging opportunities on their own doorstep. Hopefully this will inspire them to look into the comprehensive training and development opportunities at our colleges and the organisations themselves and create their chosen lifestyles in the local area.”