Medical training equipment specialist Inovus Medical launches £2m skills programme for Liverpool city region teenagers. Tony McDonough reports

Inovus founders, Jordan Van Flute, left, and Dr Elliot Street

Inovus Medical designs, manufactures and exports surgical simulators across the world and now the firm is to offer skills training to Liverpool city region teenagers.

Set up in 2012 by Dr Elliot Street and Jordan Van Flute, St Helens-based Inovus produces products that helps train surgeons. Now it is to launch a £2m programme that will offer young people an alternative route into the life sciences sector.

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

This case has come from the LCR Innovation Zone Programme which the Combined Authority claims will create 8,000 new jobs and attract up to £800m investment to the city region over the next 10 years.

Participants on this latest programme will be aged between 16 and 18. They will expand their skillset, gain hands-on experience, and benefit from personalised mentorship during a placement at Inovus.

Opportunities will be available in every department from engineering and product development to sales, marketing, and finance. Dr Elliot Street said: “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.”

Inovus Medical creates accessible and affordable simulators for surgical training and has a track record of training local apprentices. It also has a US HQ in Florida and employs around 50 people.

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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.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram added: “Our Innovation Zone is all about driving growth and creating new opportunities across Liverpool city region.

“By building on our existing strengths and backing innovative companies such as 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.”