Security, technology and intelligence provider SecuriGroup has recruited four women with no previous technology experience into its technology team through a partnership with Code First Girls, and has since promoted one of them into a leadership role.

The Glasgow-based company said all four recruits had moved from non-technical industries, having previously worked in hospitality, finance, insurance and the charity sector. They now work across software development, data engineering and business intelligence, supporting SecuriGroup’s core operations and more than 4,500 operatives across the UK.

Code First Girls describes itself as one of the UK’s largest providers of free coding education for women. Alongside the hires, it has provided ongoing technical coaching to the recruits. According to SecuriGroup, all of the participants said they would recommend the coaching programme.

Change in recruitment approach

George Dunlop, director of technology at SecuriGroup, said the partnership had replaced a reliance on job platforms and agencies.

“Before working with CFG, we primarily recruited through platforms such as Indeed or via recruitment agencies. Candidate quality could be inconsistent, both in terms of skills and experience, as well as how easily individuals adapted to our culture and ways of working,” he said.

“CFG helped address these challenges by providing motivated, capable candidates who demonstrated both humility and a willingness to learn.”

SecuriGroup said one of the recruits contributed to a significant technology development within her first six months with the business, supporting systems used during a major national sporting operation.

Jordan Coyle, lead frontend software developer at SecuriGroup, said the company’s experience with other talent firms had been mixed.

“The CFG hires I manage are hungry for knowledge. It’s been great to see how their experience from non-tech roles filters into SecuriGroup and brings different perspectives to the team. We’ve worked with other talent firms before and the experience has been mixed. The aftercare and ongoing development provided by CFG has been very important,” he said.

Rebecca Stewart, now lead BI developer at SecuriGroup, said she had been looking for a career change when she joined.

“I was looking for a career change and moving into data felt like a natural next step. My role at SecuriGroup has been a steep learning curve, but I’ve learned a lot very quickly, the team is really friendly and approachable, which has made settling in much easier. I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned to building a data warehouse and creating more reliable, impactful data solutions,” she said.

Training beyond the hires

Code First Girls operates what it calls a Social Value Model, under which more than 10 women are trained through its programmes for every woman it places into employment. On that basis, SecuriGroup said its four hires represent training for more than 40 additional women.

The partnership was marked by a recent visit from Anna Brailsford MBE, chief executive of Code First Girls, to SecuriGroup’s Glasgow headquarters, where the companies said discussions focused on expanding opportunities for women pursuing careers in technology.

Women account for around 29 per cent of the UK’s technology workforce, according to the Women in Technology & STEM in the UK 2026 overview cited by SecuriGroup. In Scotland, the proportion of women in digital technology roles is approximately 23 per cent, a figure given by Jamie Hepburn, speaking as Scotland’s Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science at a BCS Digital Skills Network event in Glasgow.

A task force launched in August in South Yorkshire followed research by TechSY finding that women hold 18 per cent of tech roles in the region. In March, the government announced a £4m TechFirst Women’s Programme aiming to create at least 300 paid placements in technology roles, with Brailsford, a member of the Women in Tech Taskforce, among those responding.

Code First Girls said in 2024 that it had taught more than 200,000 women to code.

Dunlop said of the coaching: “The technical coaching provided by the Code First Girls teams delivers real strategic value return for our organisation. It gave the hires a strong foundation, enabling them to contribute more quickly while continuing to develop towards a more independent and impactful way of working,” he said.

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