Lloyds Banking Group has unveiled the next stage of its plan to boost Scotland’s fintech workforce in the fastest-growing digital economy outside London.

As part of the launch of its new tech hub in Edinburgh in March 2019, Lloyds announced a recruitment drive to create a new 500-strong team tasked with helping transform the digital experience for Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Scottish Widows customers.

As part of the next stage in the development of the digital innovation centre, it has now joined forces with Fintech Scotland on the hunt for the country’s most exciting start-ups and young businesses for a new partnership.

The new incubator programme – Launch* – based out of the Edinburgh hub – will bring together start-ups and scale-ups to tackle the challenges of digital services and sustainability, with plans for its first industry showcase next year.

In addition to the tech hub’s team of software engineers and other digital roles which is more than 50% complete, – the first specialist mobile quality engineering team was created, adding an additional 16 roles to the tech-based talent pool in Scotland.

The Edinburgh hub was set up with the aim of transforming how the bank operates behind the scenes, creating new services and tools for customers, as well as enhancing Scotland’s thriving tech community.

Philip Grant, Chair of Lloyds Banking Group’s Scottish Executive Committee, said: “We’re putting lots of energy into shaping the financial services of the future to meet customers’ changing needs, and having cutting-edge fintech talent in action behind the scenes is key to keeping customers connected to their finances.

“We have just launched a pilot Scottish Widows mobile app to help reinvent saving for workplace pensions customers. Using digital features built by our engineers in our innovation labs, it will enable millions of people to start engaging with their pension in a similar way to their everyday banking by helping them see a clearer picture of their financial future.”

Nicola Anderson, Acting Chief Executive, Fintech Scotland, said: “Creating opportunities for collaboration across Scotland’s competitive tech scene will drive innovation as start-ups work together with established financial firms on how to trailblaze the industry’s future in partnership.

“The Launch innovation labs highlight Lloyds’ commitment to developing talent in fintech. It provides a boost in confidence for the industry and shows the power of collaboration for mutual benefit – we’re looking forward to seeing the results in next year’s industry showcase.”

The Group continues to be an active member of the wider technology scene in Scotland, hosting more than 5000 delegates at events and training sessions at its city centre hub last year as well as regular online webinars and courses. At the start of the year – before the pandemic – it hosted more than 500 delegates at a number of events, including Queercode, the first LBGTQ+ coding meet up in Scotland. As well as working in partnership with Fintech Scotland and SQA-accredited digital skills academy CodeClan, the bank has also invested in providing training for colleagues who want to diversify into careers in technology. It launched its own coding academy in 2018 which has now expanded from Edinburgh across the UK, as well as the WomenConnecTech network, to help provide opportunities and support to women looking to build careers in computer science. Graduates of the coding academy are now established software engineers working within the digital labs.