Manchester-based recruitment portal, Hiring Hub, has raised £1.4m through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and existing investors.
The round of funding was led by Maven Capital Partners, which invested £600k. The cash will be used to develop the online platform, invest in marketing and strengthen its senior team.
Some of its recent hires include former Virgin brand and marketing director, James Kydd and new chief technology officer, Anna Dick, who previously worked at Moneysupermarket, On The Beach and the BBC.
It’s also recruited Pete Wade from eBay in San Francisco as interim chief financial officer, and Georgina Crosswell, who was previously marketing director at Laterooms.
“Recruitment was the original people business, yet nowadays it feels increasingly impersonal and commoditised, which has led to recruitment agencies being viewed as a necessary evil rather than professional advisors that deliver a valuable service,” explained co-founder and CEO, Simon Swan.
“At Hiring Hub, we’re using technology to enable better relationships between employers and agencies, and address many of the industry’s core issues. This Maven understood, and with the market shifting towards smaller, independent agencies – who now represent over 80% of the supply chain – Hiring Hub is well-positioned to challenge the bigger brands while helping companies find the talent they need faster, and at a lower cost through specialist suppliers, rather than a large, traditional recruitment agency that deliver a slow, expensive, and commoditised service.”
Hiring Hub is used by 400 employers, including BASF and B&M and claims to reduce time-to-hire to an average of 20 days. This is done by using historic performance data to rate and rank the recruitment agencies within its community, and it’s now developing an AI solution to improve its recommendation engine and give employers greater market insights.
“We are delighted to invest in Simon and Hiring Hub’s innovative technology platform. With a strong board and entrepreneurial team, we believe that the business is well-positioned for rapid expansion as it disrupts this growing market. NPIF investments continue to support innovative businesses like Hiring Hub to fulfil their potential, and we look forward to working with the team,” said Gavin Bell, investment manager at Maven.
Knight Corporate Finance were advisors to the transaction.
