Four entrepreneurs from Greater London will launch the first ever Code Ninjas coding centre on British soil.
After attending a discovery day in May, the four friends instantly recognised the opportunity and wasted no time securing their position as the UK’s first franchisees. The grand opening of Code Ninjas Pinner and Harrow is planned for September 2019.
Word is getting out about the grand opening planned for September, and customer enquiries are already coming through thick and fast. David Graham, founder and CEO, expects it won’t be long before other prospects follow suit, keen to capitalise on the demand.
“We’ve never had a franchisee come on board as quickly – it actually made Code Ninjas history,” he explains. “We’ve had an unbelievable response since announcing the franchise is expanding into the UK – more than 40 serious prospects attended our first UK discovery day. Coding is big business; parents are crying out for a fun, friendly portal for their children to develop this skill. It was a case of right place, right time for our expansion and we’re very excited to have welcomed our first UK franchisees into the fold.”
The franchisees bringing Code Ninjas to the UK are Prasad Prabhakaran, Srinivasa Rao, Sridhar Bhat and Sharath Iyer (pictured above)– friends and associates from Pinner and Harrow. This new business endeavour combines their experience in technology, finance, telecoms, operations and education.
“As a team, our skills are complementary, and our objectives are the same – we want to build a profitable business that will make an impact in our community,” says former technology executive, Prasad. “Kids coding programmes are in such high-demand across the board. In Pinner and Harrow specifically, there is an abundance of business professionals who understand the importance of technology and the benefit of programmes, like Code Ninjas, for their own children.
“With such demand for kids coding sessions, we expect the franchise to grow quickly. Our long-term goal is to open additional centres in neighbouring communities in the coming years. We’re very proud that we’re the first to bring Code Ninjas to the UK and can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Kids coding is big business, both in the US and the UK, as parents continue to put emphasis on STEM education for their own children. Graham, a father of two, understands the obvious need for Code Ninjas centres in the UK:
“In this day and age, it’s crucial that our children are able to not just use but understand and master the technology that plays a part of their everyday lives. What we offer is a fun, safe place where kids can come and just be kids, whilst learning a valuable skill. That’s why the programme has performed so well. We now have more than 150 Code Ninjas centres across the US and Canada, with almost 100 more openings planned before the end of the year.”
David and his team are confident that the UK will replicate, if not surpass the US in terms of growth speed and breadth of coverage. Studies show that nine out of ten parents want their children to learn how to code, and Code Ninjas aims to provide that service to every community in the UK that will support it. A team of experts at Code Ninjas head office in the US, as well as an in-country team in Britain, will support UK franchisees as they work to get centres open, operational and profitable.
“Our priority is to support the Prasad and his fellow franchisees with a seamless and successful launch of the very first UK Code Ninjas. Here’s to the first of many launches this side of the pond!”
