Candid Hospitality Secures £800,000 Investment To Reshape Hospitality Recruitment

Candid Hospitality, a UK-based recruitment platform for the hospitality sector, has secured £800,000 in funding from NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance, Haatch, and an angel investor. The platform aims to revolutionise hiring by matching candidates to employers based on skills, values, and culture, rather than traditional CVs.

Candid Hospitality, a recruitment platform for the hospitality industry, has raised £800,000 in investment to expand its services. The investment was provided by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) – Mercia Equity Finance, Haatch, and an angel investor. This marks a significant milestone for Candid Hospitality and highlights the growing interest in innovative recruitment solutions within the hospitality sector.

Founded by seasoned entrepreneurs Sam Brown and Nick Holroyd-Doveton, Candid Hospitality is set to reshape how hospitality recruitment is approached. The platform uses an anonymous matchmaking process that prioritises skills, values, and culture over traditional CVs, ensuring a better fit between employers and candidates. With the backing of NPIF II, the company plans to scale its operations and continue its rapid growth.

Investment and growth potential

The £800,000 funding round, led by NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance, will enable Candid Hospitality to further develop its technology and expand its user base. The company, based in Hull, has already attracted over 3,000 candidates and 100 brands, including some of the UK’s top hospitality operators like Big Table Group, Loungers, Honest Burgers, and Punch Pubs. The platform has facilitated over 700 successful matches, marking a promising start to the company’s journey.

“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,” said Nick Holroyd-Doveton, co-founder of Candid Hospitality.

The platform uses the "3Cs" – culture, competencies, and compensation – to match candidates and employers, making the process more focused and effective. By removing biases and protecting the anonymity of candidates, Candid allows employers to access “passive hires” who may not be actively seeking a job but are open to the right opportunity.

Transforming the hospitality recruitment landscape

The hospitality sector, which employs around 3.5 million people directly and another 3 million in its supply chain, is one of the UK’s largest industries, according to a report by the trade body UK Hospitality. Despite its size, recruitment in the sector has often been fragmented, with employers spending considerable resources on hiring only to find that the new employee is not the right cultural fit. Candid Hospitality offers a solution by putting culture at the forefront of hiring decisions.

“We spoke to 60 operators and over 100 candidates and developed Candid based on their feedback. It uses the 3Cs, which are key to successful hires. The anonymity protects candidates and removes subconscious bias, enabling employers to access passive hires,” Holroyd-Doveton added.

The platform’s success has been driven by a deep understanding of the challenges facing hospitality recruitment, combined with a commitment to improving the hiring process.

Investors backing the vision

The investment into Candid Hospitality is seen as a significant step towards transforming recruitment in the hospitality industry. Will Schaffer, Investment Director with Mercia Ventures, expressed his confidence in the company, stating: 

“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 drive further growth.”

Lizzy Upton, senior investment manager at the British Business Bank, also highlighted the importance of the hospitality sector to the UK economy. “The hospitality sector plays a vital role in the UK 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,” she said.

Jonathan Keeling, Partner at Haatch, added, “We’ve backed over 150 startups 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 UK’s most respected operators. We believe this business can redefine how hospitality recruitment is done, putting culture and competence at the heart of hiring.”

Future plans and growth strategy

With the new funding, Candid Hospitality plans to expand its team from seven to 14 over the next two years, supporting its growth and further developing the platform’s capabilities. The company is on track to continue its rapid expansion, building on the early success that has already seen its platform gain traction in the highly competitive hospitality recruitment market.

Sam Brown, co-founder of Candid, who has previously worked with Mercia during his time at Airship, added, “The funding will help us develop the platform further and continue attracting top-tier hospitality brands to use our service. With the backing of NPIF II and our experienced team, we are confident that Candid Hospitality will become a game-changer in the recruitment space.”

About Candid Hospitality

Candid Hospitality is a UK-based hiring platform purpose-built for the hospitality industry. At its core, Candid is rethinking recruitment for a sector driven by personality, pace, and people. The platform helps ambitious operators attract, engage, and retain the right talent - more quickly and more meaningfully. 

From its Culture Snapshot tool, which quantifies team dynamics, to Miso, an AI-powered assistant that nudges, screens, and helps manage candidate flows, Candid offers hospitality-specific automation and insights that drive better hiring outcomes. 

Trusted by forward-thinking hospitality brands across the UK, Candid, headquartered in Hull, is scaling rapidly across sectors and regions. The company was founded by a team with deep experience in hospitality and tech, and is backed by leading investors who share its vision for a more human approach to hiring.

About Mercia Ventures

Mercia Ventures is a proactive venture capital investor focused on being the first-choice partner for growth. Mercia Ventures makes equity investments of up to £10million across all sectors, with specialisms in Software, Consumer, Healthcare and Deep Tech.

Mercia Ventures is part of Mercia Asset Management PLC and sits alongside its wider private equity, debt and proprietary balance sheet capital operations. The Group has 11 offices in the UK and Mercia Ventures’ national footprint and 48-strong investment team draws on their experiences as founders, PhD scientists, software engineers, corporate financiers and management consultants to help its partner companies successfully achieve their ambitions.

About the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II

Operated by the British Business Bank, NPIF II provides a mix of debt and equity funding. NPIF II will offer a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25k to £100k, debt finance from £100k to £2m, and equity investment up to £5 million. It works alongside the Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), and Growth Hubs, as well as local intermediaries such as accountants, fund managers and banks, to support the North’s smaller businesses at all stages of their development.

The funds in which the NPIF II invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in: Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire & Warrington, Cumbria, Liverpool City Region, Leeds City Region, South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority, York & North Yorkshire, Humber and East Yorkshire, Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne & Wear.

Supported by Nations and Regions Investments Limited, a subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the Bank is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. Neither Nations and Regions Investments Limited nor British Business Bank plc are authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

About Haatch

Founded in 2013 by Scott Weavers-Wright OBE and Fred Soneya, Haatch is an award-winning pre-seed and seed-stage fund manager investing in B2B SaaS companies solving critical business challenges. With over 200 investments across 150+ companies and a portfolio value exceeding £1 billion, Haatch combines deep operator experience with a mission to democratise venture capital access. 

Backed by over 1,500 investors and a £27m partnership with the British Business Bank, Haatch also manages a dedicated £8m co-investment fund for the East Midlands.