UK’s leading apprenticeship matching service announces £1 million investment from Nesta and the City & Guilds Group

The UK’s leading apprenticeship matching service, GetMyFirstJob, has today announced £1 million in new investment from Nesta Impact Investments and the City & Guilds Group following a successful funding round.

The announcement comes as new research from GetMyFirstJob reveals the vast majority of young people (98 percent) believe that more can be done at school and college level to help students find an apprenticeship. Of those surveyed, only 34 percent felt that their school or college provided sufficient information about apprenticeships and their benefits.

Launched in 2012, GetMyFirstJob is an innovative web platform that matches young people to the right apprenticeship based on their skillset and needs. With over 250,000 candidates registered since inception, GetMyFirstJob processes over 30,000 applications each month and works with over 150 colleges, employers and providers nationwide. 

The new investment follows a period of rapid growth for GetMyFirstJob since a previous funding round in January 2015, during which time the business has grown by over 500%.

John Yates, New Ventures Director at the City & Guilds Group said: “Our New Venture Fund invests in businesses and initiatives that help people get into a job, develop on the job, and progress into the next job. Apprenticeships are a really important way of helping people into work, so we’re delighted to be investing in GetMyFirstJob. Its innovative technology has helped thousands of young people and employers to find the right apprenticeship programme for them and their business. And, thanks to the team’s focus on great customer service, they’ve seen huge success so far. We look forward to working with GetMyFirstJob to support even more growth in the future.”

Isabel Newman, Investment Manager at Nesta Impact Investments said: “GetMyFirstJob has grown from strength to strength since our initial investment so we are extremely pleased to announce this second round of funding alongside the City & Guilds Group who, we believe, will play a significant role in helping the business to scale. The investment will enable the company to provide quality careers advice and recruitment support to tens of thousands more young people making the transition from school into further education and employment.”

On today’s announcement, David Allison, Managing Director of GetMyFirstJob said: “We are delighted to be working with Nesta Impact Investments and the City & Guilds Group as we embark on the next phase of growth for GetMyFirstJob. I am confident that this new investment will allow the business to accelerate its expansion further, and will help us provide even more solutions to our ever-growing base of candidates, employers, providers and colleges.”

Allison added: “With the new Apprenticeship Levy coming into effect, it is clear that employers are demanding increasingly high levels of service in helping to identify the right candidates for their businesses. As the largest provider of candidate recruitment systems to the UK apprenticeship sector, GetMyFirstJob – with the support of Nesta and the City & Guilds Group – will only continue to grow as the market-leading choice for young people and employers across the country.”

About GetMyFirstJob: GetMyFirstJob is an innovative web platform dedicated to working with employers and training providers to help them find apprentices in a time frame that works for them and to work with candidates to find them the most fitting position for a successful apprenticeship and future career. For more information please visit GetMyFirstJob.co.uk.

About Nesta Impact Investments: A £17.6 million social investment fund supported by Big Society Capital, Omidyar Network and Nesta. Launched in October 2012 Nesta Impact Investments helps tackle the major challenges faced by communities in the UK by investing in life-changing innovations. The fund is run by Nesta Investment Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation. It is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to manage and invest funds on behalf of Nesta and external investors. For more information please visit 

About the City & Guilds Group

• The City & Guilds Group is a leader in global skills development. Its purpose is to enable people and organisations to develop their skills for personal and economic growth. 
• Backed by a Royal Charter, the City & Guilds Group has over 137 years’ experience in making sure that people are prepared to contribute to successful businesses and thriving economies.
• The City & Guilds Group partners with more than 200 companies to develop the skilled workforces that they need, and invests in learning technologies to help people learn whenever and wherever they can.
• The City & Guilds Group is made up of City & Guilds, ILM, Kineo and The Oxford Group.
• Combined, the City & Guilds Group operates in over 100 countries, through 10,000 training centres, delivering qualifications in 26 different industries.
• The City & Guilds Group’s £2.5m New Venture Fund provides funding for post-revenue businesses and entrepreneurs in the education and training sector in return for equity stake in the companies.
• Recipients will also benefit from City & Guilds Group expertise and resources, helping to develop of their ideas and propel the growth of their businesses.