AN award-winning company that helps train surgeons across the world is set to offer teenagers an alternative way into life sciences after securing investment.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has awarded St Helens-based Inovus Medical £1m - which they will match - to set up an embedded skills training programme for young people across the city region.

The LCR Innovation Zone Programme is expected to create 8,000 new jobs and attract up to £800m investment to the Liverpool City Region over the next 10 years.

The six-month skills programme will enable participants aged between 16-18 years old to expand their skillset, gain hands-on experience, and benefit from personalised mentorship during a placement at Inovus – with opportunities available in every department from engineering and product development to sales, marketing, and finance.

Following the pilot, the skills programme is set to be extended to six more sites across the city region with a hub in each local authority area providing career opportunities and practical experience for young people.

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Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said: “Our Innovation Zone is all about driving growth and creating new opportunities across the Liverpool City Region. By building on our existing strengths and backing innovative companies like Inovus Medical, we’re not only helping to fill the skills gap in critical sectors like life sciences but also opening up new career paths for young people.

“I want to inspire the next generation. By giving teenagers the chance to gain hands-on experience in a growing industry and showing them what they can achieve, we’re opening them up to a world of possibilities – and hopefully shaping the scientists of tomorrow.

“Through our Innovation Zone investments, we want to stop the brain drain, attract graduates and ensure that they can get into well-paid, high-skilled jobs without leaving the region.”

Surgeon and Inovus Medical CEO and Co-founder Dr Elliot Street said: “It’s an honour to be hosting the pilot of a programme that is very close to mine and my co-founder's hearts.

“We are keenly aware of the role luck and the right opportunities have played in our success. We’re both from humble backgrounds and if we hadn’t been given access to spaces where we could meet the right people and open the right doors, Inovus Medical likely wouldn’t exist.

“It’s important to us that we now give back and create new opportunities for talented and enthusiastic young people in our home base of St Helens and the wider city region who might not otherwise have the chance to explore their potential and realise their ambitions.”

Founded in 2012 by Dr Street and engineer Jordan Van Flute, Inovus Medical creates accessible and affordable simulators for surgical training and has a strong track record of training local apprentices.

Headquartered at St Helens Manufacturing and Innovation Campus and with a new US HQ in Florida, Inovus employs around 50 people with a further 50 fractional staff and interns and exports its technology to more than 80 countries – helping solve a global surgeon shortage and ultimately saving lives.

The skills programme is designed to inspire talented young people by providing new opportunities and career paths that might not otherwise be accessible.

Each trainee will be paired with a dedicated Inovus Medical mentor who will support their learning through a combination of work shadowing and practical experience.

On a mission to become the world’s partner for surgical training through an evolving ecosystem of simulators and proprietary software, Inovus Medical is uniquely placed to help plug the skills gap identified by Health and Life Sciences businesses operating in the Liverpool City Region. Underrepresented roles include software engineers, product engineers, advanced manufacturing technicians, digital marketing, finance, and sales.

The LCR Innovation Zone Programme will help to address the region’s skill shortage and enable Inovus Medical to appoint a dedicated team which will work to ensure its skills programme is built with equality, diversity, and inclusion at its core.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Cabinet Member for Employment, Education and Skills Cllr Marion Atkinson said: “Equipping local people with the skills to benefit from job opportunities created in the life sciences sector is a key part of the Innovation Zone programme.

“With a long-standing commitment to training local people as well as producing innovative devices that are helping tackle a global shortage of surgeons, Inovus is a perfect fit to help plug the city region’s life sciences skills gap.”

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Cabinet Member for Innovation Cllr Liam Robinson said: “The Liverpool City Region is home to a thriving health and life sciences sector that’s driving world-leading innovation and helping fuel the economy, while creating thousands of well-paid jobs.

“It’s vital we develop local talent to take advantage of the new opportunities, which is why training is an integral part of our Innovation Zone programme. Inovus is a local, award-winning company with training in its DNA - and we're delighted they are working with us to develop a new innovative programme to foster the next generation of talent and plug the life sciences skills gap.”