We are Digital: changing lives with digital and financial skills

We are Digital is a pioneering digital inclusion agency and provider of training courses based in the West Midlands. Set up in 2012 to help overcome the UK’s digital literacy challenge, they provide ‘life-changing’ training to individuals and groups on behalf of housing associations, government, charities and corporates. Around 12.6 million people lack essential digital skills in Britain and are excluded from services like online banking, shopping or telemedicine. With the advent of the global coronavirus outbreak, digital literacy has become more important than ever - for social wellbeing as well as access to goods and services - and We are Digital is uniquely placed to bridge that gap.

Counting major housing organisations, money charities and banks among their clients, We are Digital is aiming high with its ambitions for social and community impact. They offer large organisations with social purpose a complete outsourcing of their community investment programmes. For instance, their Digital Bridge initiative offers a virtual overflow contact centre solution for clients who want to upskill the digital and financial skills of their end-users. We are Digital’s CEO and founder Matthew Adam is a firm believer that their focus as a social business shouldn’t limit their plans for growth. A place on Wayra’s Fair by Design social accelerator in 2017, which was designed to tackle Britain’s ‘poverty premium’ gave the start-up an injection of cash and tailored support from world-class mentors. 

The hard work is paying off. Now a team of thirty, We are Digital are growing at the rate of 100 per cent a year and landing large-scale contracts. Last year, Harper James supported the firm with a major funding round in which they raised £1.5m in social impact investment. This funding is enabling We are Digital to boost their growing workforce, and to make key tech upgrades to help scale operations. Our corporate solicitors helped get all the agreements and documentation in order ahead of the successful funding round, providing important EIS advice and ensuring all the necessary protections and assurances were in place.

We’re pleased to have worked in partnership with the We are Digital team since 2018, providing them with legal support for commercial, corporate, employment, data protection and property matters. As Enable Plan clients, the firm enjoys the peace of mind of regular legal advice for a monthly subscription fee. Due to their rapid growth, We are Digital sought out new office space to accommodate their business, and our commercial property specialists guided them through the process of securing a new commercial lease. As a training provider, they employ a network of specialist tutors as contractors, and our employment team has helped to create employment contracts as well as providing TUPE advice. We have also designed general contract templates, terms and conditions and schedules of products for the firm, safeguarding their rights and liabilities as the business scales up.

CEO of We are Digital Matthew Adam commented: ‘Working with Harper James has enabled our start-up to scale at real pace. Thanks to their specialist lawyer teams, we can get quality legal advice in all the areas our business needs with ease. That leaves me and my team free to focus on our jobs and growing the business, while Harper James looks after the legal side.’

CEO of Harper James Toby Harper said: ‘We are Digital is exactly the kind of business our Enable Plan is designed to support with legal services. They’re ambitious, marketplace disruptors and agents of social change. Matt and his team’s ambition to transform the lives of some of society’s most vulnerable with access to digital tools is a powerful vision, and one we’re proud to play a supporting role in.’