Welsh 3D agency wins prestigious award for its unique talent development programme

DO Digital Realities has won the ACT Training Talent Development award in the BiTC Cymru Responsible Business Awards 2018, held on the 28 June 2018 and presented by Lucy Owen. The Business in the Community Cymru’s awards recognise companies making a positive difference in Wales.

Caroline Cooksley, Development Director for ACT Training said: “DO Digital Realities is a worthy winner of the ACT Training Development award and have demonstrated to companies across Wales about how responding to challenges in a responsible way can lead to great things.”

DO Digital Realities are proud to nurture and develop talent, both externally and for the development of their own core staff. The academy was created to meet the growing need for students, and those starting their careers in the sector, to gain training applicable to employment. The sessions are free as DO recognise that a giving back to the sector and seeing emerging talent in an informal and friendly setting is mutually beneficial, with recent Academy attendees often gaining employment or work placements at DO.

Darren Crockett, Managing Director said: “As a team of creatives with a vast range of technical knowledge we needed to develop a way of producing the next crop of IMAGINARIANS. We also wanted to give something back to the industry locally, so that’s how the DO Academy started. Pupils learn from seasoned professionals in all facets of 3D. Exploring our 3D services and learning how to harness their potential. Our goals are clear: train, develop and share the success. The best thing of all, it’s free. We don’t charge for our time and we believe It’s part of our social responsibility. Places are limited and the demand for a spot is high.”

The vision for the DO Academy is to give back to the local community. Despite being a smaller business with 12 employees, DO are passionate about their responsibility as a business. They also realised that often the best potential employees don’t perform well in formal interview situations, recruitment agencies didn’t understand their needs and so a more informal approach was required. Having built the business up from scratch over the last 11 years, Darren Crockett, MD, has a desire to create a successful industry as a whole. DO carry the value of personal development through everything they do, such as the new internal ‘buddy’ system, where experienced staff sit alongside work placement students or junior staff so that they can pro-actively learn and support each other in their work.

The DO Academy runs throughout the year with a mixture of term-time free skills training sessions from their in-house experts (who they call IMAGINARIANS) and work placements for students through their strong links with universities, such as University of South Wales Creative Industries faculty. It’s not just for students, however, professionals and freelancers looking to increase their skills are also encouraged to attend.

Heather Callaghan, Freelancer said: “Before attending the academy I was really struggling to find a company that would give me any sort of professional experience, let alone a job! So, coming into a professional environment where I could develop my skills to the next level, was completely invaluable and gave me the confidence and push I needed to keep on job hunting.” 

DO Digital Realities are understandably extremely proud to have their work recognised by BiTC Cymru  and be amongst the winners of the awards that include larger companies and corporates such as Brecon Carreg Mineral Water, Ikea and Bluestone National Park Resort. It’s a huge achievement for the company and they honoured to have their work as a responsible business recognised by Business in the Community.

Matt Appleby, Director at Business in the Community Cymru added: “Every year the Wales Responsible Business Awards recognise companies that are making a positive difference, beyond just profit, right here in Wales. By achieving a place on the shortlist, DO Digital Realities has demonstrated its commitment to operating responsibly, engaging with communities and colleagues to have a measurable impact on some of Wales’ most intractable challenges, such as unemployment, and are the best of the best.”