76. Steer

Founder: Amelia Humfress
Founded: December 2012 (launched February 2013)
Website: www.steer.me

With London’s tech sector continuing to enjoy a boom, and coding now part of the national curriculum, many are keen to access the enhanced employability and real world advantages programming skills can bring.

After taking a 10 week course on the subject, Amelia Humfress saw a gap in the market for a high quality crash course in coding. Steer provides introductory and specialist one to five day courses for between £300 and £1649 per person. Humfress wanted to distinguish the company from “geeky and male-oriented” competitors, and feels the price represents its high quality and attention to the customer experience.

Since appearing in the 2014 Startups 100 list, Steer has grown its team from six to 11 experienced developers, designers and teachers, and has begun to achieve its goal of a 50/50 gender split across its staff and courses. The company also recently worked with the Prince’s Trust Get Started programme for unemployed 16-25 year olds – and its partnerships like these alongside some newly launched courses – that should see it reach its projected turnover of £560,000 and profitability by the end of 2015.

With the internet becoming ever more integral to businesses across all sectors, coding is fast becoming an essential skill for prospective employees, and Steer will be sitting pretty on an enormous potential market.