Digital skills academy CodeClan goes into liquidation

CodeClan was founded in 2015

Scotland's digital skills academy, CodeClan, has gone into liquidation with the loss of nearly 60 posts.

CodeClan called in liquidators from Quantuma Advisory after struggling to place students into employment.

Quantuma said the academy had ceased trading as a result of "challenging market conditions".

CodeClan was set up in 2015 as part of a Scottish government-backed skills investment plan to drive forward ICT and digital technologies.

It aimed to help tackle the skills gap for software developers and boost Scotland's tech sector.

• Scotland's first digital skills academy launches

Launched with a core curriculum to retrain people from all backgrounds and professions, the company taught students the fundamentals of software programming.

The business provided training from sites in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and previously ran an office in Inverness.

CodeClan chief product officer Ceri Shaw said they were "devastated".

They posted on Linkedin that the firm had contacted the Scottish government and Scottish Enterprise about financial support several times since the beginning of the year.

"For whatever reason, they were unable or unwilling to offer financial support when it came down to it, despite positive indications up to that point," the company boss said.

Cash flow issues

A statement from Quantuma said the business had originally been "significantly impacted" by Covid as it derived significant income from placing people into employment.

It said: "In 2021 the Inverness office was closed and the business looked to have returned to some stability.

"Unfortunately, current market conditions have hit the turnover, with the business placement side of the business once again suffering.

"Attempts to replace this income have failed and ultimately, a lack of cash flow has resulted in the company being placed in liquidation and immediately ceasing to trade.

"All 57 employees have now been made redundant."

Quantuma managing director Craig Morrison said: "As joint provisional liquidators, our immediate priorities have been to provide appropriate support to those whose jobs have been affected.

"The Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) has been engaged to work with employees."

A Scottish government spokesperson said the news was "deeply regrettable" as CodeClan had played a valuable role in Scotland's tech scene.

They said arrangements were being made to support staff and the government was working with partners to support students affected.