Marketing agency Matchstick Creative secures deal with Liverpool social enterprise InnovateHer to help its mission of persuading girls to consider careers in tech. Tony McDonough reports

Matchstick Creative has won a new deal with social enterprise InnovateHer which will see the two Liverpool firms work together to help create a more equitable tech sector for women and girls.

Originally called Liverpool Girl Geeks, the venture was renamed InnovateHer in 2018 as it took its work beyond the city region and across the country.

Its mission is to persuade more teenage girls to study STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) with a view to pursuing careers in tech.

Matchstick Creative is itself a female-founded business and is run by chief executive Ruth Hartnoll. Last week she was named deputy chair of the new Liverpool City Region Business and Enterprise Board.

Under this new deal with InnovateHer, Matchstick will deliver a number of content services. These include developing a social media strategy, social channel management and the design of its social impact report.

Ruth Hartnoll said: “Partnering with InnovateHer has been a dream of ours for a long time. We’ve long admired their work to shift the status quo around women and girls in tech and can’t wait to partner with them to communicate their impact and future plans.” 

In June LBN reported how InnovateHer had secured £480,000 from Lancashire defence giant BAE Systems and a further £50,000 from Innovate UK’s Future Flight Fund.

BAE, which has a continual need to recruit people with technology skills, had previously given InnovateHer £120,000. This latest cash injection will support a drive to boost the digital and cyber skills of young people across Lancashire.

It will use the £50,000 from Future Flight Fund to expand its outreach activities for teens aged 13 to 17. It will design a cybersecurity learning programme on its e-learning platform to be delivered in schools across the UK.

InnovateHer chief executive Chelsea Slater added: “Having seen their impressive work around LCR Combined Authority’s Pathway to 2040 report, we knew they (Matchstick) had the skills to deliver on our vision.

“More needs to be done for women and girls and we know Matchstick will communicate this with empathy and creativity at the heart of it. We can’t wait to see the work in the real world soon.”