IN4 Group has delivered over £4.6 million of social value back into the North West community in the last year and has been awarded the Social Value Quality Mark level two for its transformational impact in the region through its flagship innovation and skills hub HOST, the Home of Skills & Technology.
This means that for every £1 IN4 invests in services and support, there is a £4.69 return of social impact into the regional economy.
Led by Blackburn technology entrepreneur Mo Isap and co-founder Andy Beaden, IN4 which has offices in Preston and MediaCity in Salford, provides skills, innovation and start-up growth services, and is focused on driving regional prosperity through innovation.
The Group works with local authorities, academic institutions, the private sector and national government, operating specifically in Key Cities (second cities) and large towns to unlock potential and drive a high skilled high growth economy.
The value IN4 offers is broken down into five key areas: health and wellbeing (£1,030,802.36), education and skills (£1,353,803), employment and volunteering (£974,308), social and community (£146,519.16) and economic (£1,114,515.70).
The hub operator has supported over 450 businesses from across the North West through its innovation and growth programmes, including the award-winning FreelanceHER 100 accelerator.
Women remain vastly underrepresented in the tech sector (17 per cent in the UK), and in a bid to drive gender parity in the industry, over 40 per cent of the participants IN4 has supported through its programmes are female.
IN4 is committed to breaking the barriers to the tech industry and ensuring those from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds have fair access to technology careers through its digital skills powerhouse, Skills City.
It successfully secured £1.2m from the Department for Education (DfE), one of the largest digital Skills Bootcamp contracts in the North, to fast-track 450 people into technology careers every year.
IN4 Group’s three core values centre on humanising, belonging and culture – with the aim of humanising technology so it’s relatable to all, creating a sense of belonging in the places where it works and championing culture by supporting inclusive and diverse communities.
The Group has been working in close partnership with Salford City Council as part of its investment into skills and innovation, and ongoing commitment to establishing Greater Manchester as a leading digital city region.
Mo Isap, CEO of IN4 Group, said:
“We exist to ensure there is fair access to technology futures to all, individuals and organisations alike. Measuring the tangible success is critical to ensuring we remain accountable to our mission and we continue to deliver the social and economic return desired by our partners and clients. Most importantly, technology has a transformational quality not just to be able to do more, but for more people to be able to do more.”
Richard Dickins, founder of the Social Value Quality Mark, said:
“We are pleased to present the Social Value Quality Mark Level 2 Award to IN4 Group as it joins other illustrious organisations to achieve this accolade. IN4 Group is absolutely committed to driving social value and local economic benefit through all its activities across the three pillars of skills, innovation and start-ups, and delivering positive outcomes through operating skills and innovation environments such as HOST in MediaCity.”
Social Value Business in partnership with the Social Value Quality Mark CIC (SVQM), carried out the independent review, evaluation and verification of the social value created, influenced, and delivered by IN4 Group in Salford and the North West during 2021.
The full Social and Local Value Report can be viewed here.
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