RTC North: Fuelling growth by supporting tomorrow’s workforce

RTC North’s Education Relationships Manager Josh Minto

Leading the way with a unique LEGO ‘serious play’ workshop at this year’s BUILDING BLOCKS Insights event was RTC North, a business support and innovation organisation based at Newcastle Helix.

Established in 1989 and now located in The Catalyst building, RTC North works with a wide range of partners such as local authorities, universities and the private sector. The team offers expert advice for North East business owners in areas such as growth, digital transformation, commercialisation, skills development, and internationalisation. 

RTC North’s Education Relationships Manager Josh Minto, who leads the way with educational initiatives across the region, shares his passion for supporting young people as well as businesses.

“It's a privilege to be there,” he says of the Building Blocks Insights event, “The atmosphere in the building is really buzzy, and it's nice to be a part of that.”

For Josh, nurturing the next generation of industry talent is just as important as providing that all-important support to new and existing businesses.

“Regional business and education are linked,” Josh explains, “Because we have so many businesses in the North East, it's important that they're getting the support that they need to compete, innovate and grow.”

“The key thing is identifying what skills our businesses are going to need in the future, then working with education to make sure students are learning those skills, so that it matches up with what local businesses are going to need.”

RTC North works with future talent through a series of initiatives, such as the STEM ambassador programme, which sees STEM industry experts volunteer in regional schools to share their knowledge and inspire young people.

Another initiative is RTC North’s Cyber First programme, which Josh says is a key way to connect schools with a fast-growing sector: “We're working with the National Cyber Security Centre on the programme. We're getting schools to become accredited ‘cyber schools’... to give them opportunities to then work with cyber industries.”

Just like Building Blocks, RTC North also understands the importance of showing young people the possibilities within STEM outside of the classroom environment - most notably with their ambitious STEM Fest exhibition event.

“3000 kids over three days meet over 50 stem companies over three days, and do hands-on interactive activities at their stands,” says Josh.

RTC North aims to empower businesses to achieve sustainable success by fostering the relationships that will support industries now and in the future.

For Josh, it’s incredibly simple but effective: “We're introducing industry to schools by introducing schools to industry.”