Gradcore became a part of the Unseen Group in 2022 after over a decade of successfully building employability strategies for universities and employers across the UK. We speak to Managing Director and Founder, Martin Edmondson, about Gradcore's journey, joining Unseen, and what's next for the company.

Can you tell us about the early days of starting your business? What inspired you to create Gradcore?

Gradcore was born out of a University project called Graduates Yorkshire. I took over the running of Graduates Yorkshire in 2006, and was asked to try and transition it from a funded project into a sustainable business. I did this in 2007 and at that point we were owned by all of the Universities in Yorkshire. We then spotted that employability was an increasingly important aspect of University life and strategy, and wanted to create a range of products and services nationwide. In order to do this we needed a different brand so Gradcore was created in 2010. I then led an MBO from Yorkshire universities in 2013 to convert the company into an independent social enterprise focused on graduate employability and employment.

Did you always picture yourself as a Founder and business owner?

I didn't at all plan for that, or picture myself as that. However I was excited by the initial vision of turning a funded project into a business – and have continued to evolve it since. It took me a while to get used to the idea that I was a founder and business owner, but I have found it to be a really interesting path.

" Gradcore has grown significantly, with turnover more than doubling since we joined [the group]. "

What was the biggest challenge you faced as a business before joining the Group, how did you overcome it?

I think our key challenge was around tech capability, which might then enable greater scalability. We solved this ourselves by some of my team ingeniously adapting existing software, but weren't able to build our own tech and platforms. The fact we can now do that as part of the group has been a key factor in our growth since.

What was it that attracted you to Unseen? Was it the people, our values? Was it an exciting opportunity for growth?

I was attracted to the vision of building a suite of companies that covered the entire journey young people take from school, into HE/Apprenticeships and then work At Gradcore we have always supported various aspects of that journey, but the scale and scope of the vision would (and has) allowed us to reach much further and support far more graduates, universities and employers. I also built a good connection with Zac, and we quickly discovered we shared a lot in terms of both vision and company culture – all of which helps with bringing companies and teams together.

How did you find the acquisition process? Was it a smooth transition? Did you feel supported along the journey?

It was a process that had its challenges, and I don't think company acquisitions are ever totally straightforward – but fundamentally once we had agreed on a shared path and vision the rest was down to the lawyers. We have also then contributed to future acquisitions in the group in order to constantly iterate and improve that process for others.

How did the Gradcore team feel about becoming a part of the wider Unseen Group? Have any new members fit in well with existing ones? Do you think they have you learnt anything new, or taught the group anything?

I think any team is nervous when merging with another company, but generally speaking the transition of the teams has been very smooth. The Gradcore team rightly asked a lot of questions, and these were always openly answered. I think they have all learnt things from various other people across the team and have also perhaps brought a deeper understanding of HE and employability to the group.

How has Gradcore grown since becoming part of Unseen? What's been the major benefit of joining the group?

Gradcore has grown significantly, with turnover more than doubling since we joined, we have also significantly grown the team. This has allowed us to provide better service to our clients, and to scale up work such as our assessment centres, graduate coaching programmes and consultancy. I think the key benefit was the freeing up of members of the team from business admin – much of which is now handled centrally by the group – allowing a total focus on delivery for clients, and improving products and services.

Finally, what's next for Gradcore? What's the big ambition over the next couple of years?

We aim to be the leading provider of employability services to HE around the world, and hope to do this by continuing to evolve and enhance our range of products and services for that market. We also hope to be adding some acquisitions within the group to the Gradcore portfolio, ensuring we truly provide a genuinely holistic employability offer to universities.