Young people in Greater Manchester logging onto Beeline find careers thanks to partnership with EM Code

EM Code has worked with GMACS (Greater Manchester Apprenticeship and Careers Service) to launch Beeline, a new digital tool designed to help young people with career guidance in the city region.

After its launch in late September 2024, Beeline quickly gained over 2,000 users and saw an 83 per cent increase in users in its second month online. Available on the GMACS website, Beeline offers young people in Greater Manchester a clear view of real job opportunities in the city-region's growing economy.

Developing Beeline allowed EM Code to showcase its expertise in UX, design and software development, whilst also supporting Greater Manchester’s young talent, a cause close to the agency’s heart.

Beeline is the first of many resources being developed as part of the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc) – a mission of the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, which aims to transform technical education to provide an equally prestigious alternative to the university route.

Beeline has evolved from a simple visual aid into a comprehensive digital hub. It offers young people real-time information on the jobs available in each of the seven MBacc “gateways”, which are linked to a growing sector in the Greater Manchester economy.  Alongside guidance on the most relevant subjects, courses and qualifications on offer at 14, 16 and 18, Beeline connects career suggestions directly to current vacancies through the Adzuna jobs website, along with salary details, helping students understand where a technical education can take them.

With the need to captivate a youthful audience, the EM Code team, led by Technical Director Dave Heath, was onboarded to design and deliver a seamless user experience across mobile and web platforms. The goal was to create a mobile-first approach that ensured usability, accessibility, performance, and SEO benefits.

Dave Heath, Head of Technical at EM Code, said:

“The work we did with the GMACS team perfectly showcases our approach at EM Code. We started with a Discovery phase to understand and challenge the problem space, ensuring we gathered the necessary insights.

“We then conducted a rapid design sprint over two weeks to create and agree on UX/Design options for the digital pathways. This was followed by a Definition phase, where we proposed a range of options focused on value-based delivery. We explored and agreed on a technical solution that kept complexity and impact on existing systems low, ultimately delivering the final solution.

“Hearing the positive feedback from the GMACS team and its end users has been incredibly touching, as it highlights the profound impact of our development efforts.”

Louis Georgiou, MD of EM Code and Chief Creative and Technology Officer at EssenceMediacom North, said:

“Both EM Code and EssenceMediacom North have always been committed to supporting and nurturing talent.  Since our early years at EM Code, we’ve had strong ties with high schools, sixth forms and universities, and we run several well-structured student placements every year as part of that commitment to the local community.

“Supporting Beeline enables us to help even more young people explore and choose career pathways. Importantly it also helps us to retain our incredible talent within the North.

“Considering how the last five years have impacted education and early careers, it’s crucial to make pathways simple to consider and accessible for young people Being able to play a critical role in transforming the Beeline is certainly something we are proud of.”

‍Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said:

“The collaboration with EM Code to develop Beeline reflects Greater Manchester’s strong links with local employers, who want to play a key role in nurturing and building our city-region's young talent.

“It underscores Greater Manchester’s commitment to working with industry to shape the future of technical education and ensure young people are connected to the opportunities within the city-region.”

The updated Beeline function with pathways to a range of careers can be found here.

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About EM Code

EM Code is a customer experience, digital innovation and AI agency.

We’re a strategic digital partner that delivers breakthrough growth throughout the customer experience (CX).

We achieve this through our industry-renowned services in digital transformation, web development, brand strategy, click rate optimisation (CRO) and UX (user experience).

Our human centric approach underpins every aspect of our work.

A collective of experts in multiple disciplines, we collaborate to distil the complex needs of organisations and end users to engineer solutions that make an impact.

From fast scaling start ups to global brands, we can help you to transform your organisation.

We are an EssenceMediacom North agency.

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About EssenceMediacom North

EssenceMediacom North helps brands to breakthrough in the new communications economy.

Disrupting models of media, EssenceMediacom North accelerates creative and business transformation for its clients roster, including Hillarys, Absolute Collagen, Webuyanycar.com and United Utilities.

The agency delivers breakthrough growth, capabilities, and revenue through the integration of media, creativity, data and technology, combined with its diverse industry-leading expertise.

Equipped with access to the richest data, robust benchmarking and advanced technologies, EssenceMediacom North unlocks new opportunities to deliver truly integrated media solutions for scaling and global brands.

EssenceMediacomNorth is part of WPP’s media investment group, GroupM.