Evo Agency - Somerset EBP Award Winners 2023

Evo Agency are the winners of the Somerset EBP Inspiring the Next Generation Award (1-249 employees) 2023.

Find out more about the work that has led to this accolade and how the team plan to continue to inspire the young people of Somerset.

What did your organisation do which led to you winning this award?
We’ve been working hard to inspire young people since the business was founded 15 years ago. Back in 2014, we launched our first Apprentice Programme which has gone from strength to strength. It offers young learners the opportunity to develop their digital and technical skills in the real world in partnership with the very best SME (small to medium sized enterprise) digital and tech agencies in the UK.

Over the last year alone, Evo has worked with multiple Somerset-based schools and colleges, the University Centre Somerset, the Somerset Education Business Partnership and Young Enterprise, informed by the LSIP (Local Skills Improvement Plan).

We’ve attended numerous school and college careers fairs with a team on-hand to talk to students about what life working at a digital agency is like, the skills that are needed and the career progression it offers. We’ve presented student talks in schools and colleges. Hosted our own apprenticeship open evening: Beyond the Code for students and their families to learn more about what an apprenticeship would entail and to have a go at coding. One of our apprentices became a finalist in the Somerset Business Awards this march, for the Apprentice of the Year category, and we’ve worked with Bridgwater & Taunton College on developing their Digital Apprenticeship Programmes.

Our mission is to create opportunities for talented school leavers to build successful careers within the digital/tech space. That involves working with educational establishments to develop the apprenticeship course content and improve knowledge and understanding of the benefits of choosing that route.

What impact did you see for your organisation and the people you worked with?
Without new talent coming into any business, it would fail. Getting the right talent, with the right skills and training is a major challenge in any sector, especially a fast-paced one like ours. By bringing apprentices into our business and combining classroom-based with experiential learning, they’re learning skills that they not only need to do the job for us but for any other business in our industry. They work on live client projects and deliver real results which directly impact our bottom line. We’re immensely proud of what they achieve and how quickly they start to contribute to the overall success of the team and the organisation.

How has winning this award made a difference to your organisation?
Winning this award was a really proud moment for us as a business. It’s humbling to hear your work recognised externally. It’s only then you really believe you’ve done well. Hearing the other entries and the rest of the award videos is what has inspired us the most though. There are so many young people out there who need us to do more and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

What plans do you have for similar work in the year ahead?
The next step on our journey is already in the offing -  Evo Academy, where we’ll train the next generation of developers and digital marketers. We want to give back to our communities and ensure that future generations are equipped with up-to-date technical and creative skills honed by working on real-world projects to deliver top-tier talent across our region.

Find out more about Evo Agency at evo.agency
Email the team: hello@evo.agency