DIGITAL skills academy CodeClan is to extend beyond the Central Belt and partner with more business, after appointing a former senior figure at technology giant IBM as its new chief executive.

Melinda Matthews Clarkson, who has more than 25 years’ experience in the technology sector has declared plans to grow the organisation when she takes over from acting chief executive Adam Bannon.

Ms Clarkson, an American, has lived in Scotland for the past decade, and was recently vice president of commerce partnerships at IBM.

In a swiftly evolving industry, she has been involved in the launch of products in the cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), ecommerce and digital marketing spaces.

She said: “There is a real buzz about the technology sector in Scotland and we need to fuel it by getting more and more talented digital professionals into the marketplace. With more than 90 per cent of our graduates finding work within five months, there are very compelling reasons for people to get involved.”

A social enterprise, with support from the Scottish Government, ScotlandIS and Skills Development Scotland, CodeClan last week revealed it was expanding its course numbers in 2018 to help steer more people into the digital sector. A total of 200 CodeClan graduates have now secured technology-related jobs and, to meet demand, the academy announced it was planning to double its course numbers in Glasgow in the year ahead.

“We’re also looking at delivering our courses beyond the Central Belt making access easier for people in other parts of the country,” said Mr Clarkson. “This will be backed by more partnerships with business. It will be a win for students, businesses and the sector as a whole.”