Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week: Finn's Journey

As part of National Apprenticeship Week, we want to celebrate a major milestone for the agency - welcoming Finn Milner, our very first degree apprentice, and recognising the outstanding contribution he’s already making to the team.

Finn joined Enigma in October 2025 after proactively seeking out an apprenticeship opportunity with Enigma, having already completed two separate work experience placements with us during his A-levels. With a clear ambition to work in software development from an early age, Finn knew he wanted a route that combined learning with real, hands-on experience.

“I realised I enjoyed the doing much more than just the theory,” Finn explains. “I wanted to be building things, solving problems and working on real projects, but still working towards a qualification and an apprenticeship felt like the best of both worlds.”

Since joining the agency, Finn has quickly become a valued member of Enigma’s development team. His role involves working directly on live client projects, investigating technical issues, developing solutions and contributing code that goes into production.

Working directly on live client tickets, Finn is gaining experience across different platforms, frameworks and client environments, all while learning industry best practice, tools and collaborative workflows.

Finn works as part of Digital Producer Iain Weir’s team, who highlighted the benefit apprenticeships bring to the wider business: “Having someone like Finn join the team brings a fresh perspective, curiosity and a real hunger for learning. In an agency environment, developers move between different languages, frameworks and clients regularly, and Finn has shown he can adapt quickly and confidently.”

Recently, Finn was immersed in a completely new technical environment, working at pace alongside the team to scope, estimate and deliver work for a client. “He’s handled it brilliantly,” Iain adds. “He’s already operating at a level comparable to a graduate, which is a real testament to his drive and attitude.”

For Enigma, Finn’s apprenticeship is about more than one individual success story. It reflects a wider commitment to nurturing future digital talent and keeping skilled people in the North East.

“We’re passionate about inspiring young people to see the opportunities that exist here,” says Sally Taffs, Director of Holistic Projects at Enigma Interactive, “Finn really found us, he showed initiative, determination and genuine enthusiasm. That made us confident this was the right first step into apprenticeships for the agency.”

Finn’s apprenticeship will last two and a half years, during which he spends four days a week at Enigma and one day studying at Newcastle College, specialising in software engineering. By the time he completes his qualification, he’ll graduate with both a degree-level qualification and several years of real industry experience.

Enigma already has a strong track record of supporting early-career talent through work experience placements, school and college outreach, university sandwich years and studio visits. Finn’s success has shown that apprenticeships can be a powerful addition to that pipeline.

“This experience has put me miles ahead,” Finn says. “Having industry experience alongside a qualification is huge and I’d absolutely recommend this route to anyone considering it.”

As Enigma celebrates National Apprenticeship Week, Finn’s journey marks the beginning of what the agency hopes will be many more opportunities to support and grow the next generation of digital talent, right here in the North East.

To find out more about the opportunities available visit www.enigma-interactive.co.uk/join-our-team