Unseen Group completes sixth, and biggest, acquisition in three years
Manchester-based software and employability solutions provider, Unseen Group, has completed its sixth acquisition in three years, and its largest by team size to date.
The business, which describes itself as “a collective of brands working towards a common goal, under one umbrella – Unseen”, with locations also in London and Sheffield, has acquired Pagoda Projects for an undisclosed sum.
Pagoda Projects, based in Manchester, partners with universities in the UK and overseas to deliver part- or fully-funded internships, a service offering that diversifies and strengthens the Unseen Group’s existing ability to cater to its long list of university and employer client base.
The addition of Pagoda expands Unseen’s overall headcount by 70% and sees revenues across the group increase to £7.5m for 2023, up 78% from £4.2m in 2022.
The Unseen Group now consists of 75 full-time team members and seven brands, including the UK’s leading graduate careers website, graduatejobs.com, employability consultancy specialists, Gradcore, and digital assessment centre platform, TopScore.
Zac Williams, Unseen Group CEO, said: “Pagoda is an amazing business with a great team behind it. I’m really excited to bring them on board with us as we continue full steam ahead with our buy-and-build strategy.
“Pagoda’s mission to make better employment outcomes possible for students from all backgrounds perfectly compliments our own mission to provide opportunities and choices for the next generation of talent, so it was clear that our companies aligned when it came to values and purpose,” he added.
Jamie Bettles, founder of Pagoda Projects, said: “When I first met Zac in 2023 I was really impressed by his vision and the company values he had built into the Unseen Group. After creating a successful graduate jobs website, the growth journey Zac and Unseen have embarked on inspired me to join the group, knowing I’d be uniting with a supportive and high performing team of leaders within our space.”
He added: “Being part of an innovative group of impact-driven companies will help us to offer our university partners and student participants high quality, high impact programmes with even stronger graduate outcomes.”
