Manchester Tech Festival founder Amy Newton on her journey from a Stretford estate to the heart of the city's £5bn industry

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Growing up on a Manchester council estate, Amy Newton remembers doing jobs like collecting glasses at the pub and working in a pork scratchings factory.

Her life changed in her early 20s when she "blagged" her way into her first tech recruitment job, kickstarting a career that's seen her set up the consultancy firm Inclusively Tech and the MCR DevCon conference. Read more: Review: Matrix-inspired Free Your Mind will blow your mind and is a must-see at new Aviva Studios She's now the driving force behind the Manchester Tech Festival, set up to highlight the 10,000 businesses in Greater Manchester's booming tech and digital industry.

And speaking on The Northern Agenda podcast this week, she describes how her passion is ensuring people with backgrounds like hers can get the high-paid, high-skilled jobs in swanky city centre offices which might seem off-limits for kids on estates half an hour away. Listen to the full interview on The Northern Agenda podcast below: Ms Newton, who grew up in Stretford but has lived all over Greater Manchester, describes an epiphany when looking at the job descriptions of business analysts and project managers working in tech earning £300 to £350 a day. "And I remember thinking 'God, there are so many girls I went to high school with who would eat this job alive'.

But they're still on the estate. And they're still hoping that when he comes home from work on Friday, he gives them enough money for nappies at the weekend." In this point in the interview, she tees up her next statement by saying: "If you're listening to this and you're desperate to be offended by me, congratulations, you will find yourself offended".