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Two hospitality tech entrepreneurs have partnered to tackle the sector's recruitment market and secured £785,000 investment in the process.

Sam Brown, a director of hospitality customer relationship management specialist Airship Services, and Nick Holroyd-Doveton, a co-founder of ordering and payment innovator Omnifi, have created Hull-based Candid Hospitality. The matchmaking concept, which launched earlier this year, has been developed with the involvement of hospitality operators and allows candidates to build an anonymous profile and view opportunities while alleviating employers of the need to sift CVs.

Candidates are matched on skills and values to make sure they meet job requirements and fit company culture. Employers then play a flat monthly fee to recruit candidates from the platform which caters for all job levels.

Mr Brown's business was previously backed by Mercia and the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and was sold to Zonal in 2022. Now the Candid founders have landed £785,000 from NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia Ventures and part of the Northern Powerhouse Fund II (NPIF II), along with Haatch and an angel investor. The sum marks the first NPIF II equity investment in Hull.

Candid is said to have so far attracted 3,000 candidates and 100 brands including well known names such as Punch Pubs, Loungers and The Alchemist. The Queen Street-based company now plans to double its headcount to 14 over the next two years.

Mr Holroyd-Doveton said: “Having spent years in hospitality, both Sam and I know the challenges of recruitment. Candidates are often afraid to look for a better job in case their current boss finds out, while employers spend huge sums on new hires only to find they are the wrong fit. We felt the process must be ripe for change.

“Using our industry contacts, we spoke to 60 operators and over 100 candidates and developed Candid based on their feedback. It uses the 3Cs - culture, competencies and compensation – which are key to successful hires. The anonymity protects candidates and removes subconscious bias, and enables employers to access ‘passive hires’ who may not be active job seekers but may be interested if the right role came along.”

Will Schaffer, investment director with Mercia Ventures, added: “Having worked with Sam previously during his time at Airship, we are pleased to back him and Nick in their latest venture. Candid offers an innovative solution to the challenges of hospitality recruitment and has gained rapid traction. The funding will enable the team to build on its initial success and to drive further growth.”

Lizzy Upton, senior investment manager at the British Business Bank, said: “The hospitality sector plays a vital role in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ economy and is an industry built on people. Candid Hospitality is showing how innovative businesses in Yorkshire are using technology to tackle longstanding challenges and unlock new opportunities for growth. Through NPIF II, we’re proud to support these businesses and ambitious founders like Sam and Nick as they innovate and help strengthen one of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s most important sectors.”

Jonathan Keeling, partner at Haatch, said: “We’ve backed over 150 start-ups at Haatch, and it’s rare to see this level of product–market fit so early on. Sam and Nick are proven founders with deep hospitality experience, and Candid is already delivering results for some of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s most respected operators. We believe this business can redefine how hospitality recruitment is done, putting culture and competence at the heart of hiring.”