A LEADING figure from Dorset’s digital economy has been invited to Downing Street and Buckingham Palace to help mentor the next generation of talent.

Digital consultant Matt Desmier, who founded Bournemouth’s Silicon Beach conference, lobbied for Bournemouth and Poole to be included in the recent Tech Nation report into the sector.

The report subsequently found the area had the fastest-growing digital economy in the country.

Since then, he has been invited to discussions at 10 Downing Street, chaired by the Prime Minister’s special adviser, exploring possible solutions to an impending skills shortage.

Mr Desmier said: “The government invited myself and representatives from 12 other digital clusters from all across the UK, up to 10 Downing Street to talk about the issues facing the businesses in our region and also to propose solutions to solve them.

“The discussion lasted for about an hour and half, but we were assured this was the start of an ongoing dialogue."

Today, he will be at Buckingham Palace as part of the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace scheme, which connects tech the entrepreneurs with potential angels, and business contacts.

He said the results of the annual Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Creative Economy Census, conducted by his team, showed access to skills could be a brake on the industry.

“I’ve surveyed the digital economy of the region every year for the past four years and have built up a substantial amount of data,” he said.

“The survey gets a great response and over 90 per cent of the businesses are optimistic about the future.”

“However, overwhelmingly, the businesses are all saying that access to talent is holding them back.”

He said one solution was for Bournemouth and the surrounding area to celebrate its status as the fastest-growing digital hub.

“If the region embarked upon a proactive PR campaign and told people about the great stuff that’s going on around here, experienced talent would flock to the region,” he said.

He said the town’s two universities were producing “exceptionally talented” graduates but should make it easier for businesses to engage with them.

"If you imagine that the average size of a creative agency is just seven employees, it can be really expensive for these businesses to try and engage with the universities, especially if the unis don’t make it easy for them,” he said.

“I should know, I ran the enterprise department in one for five years.”