WH Ireland is proud to have acted as Sole Broker and Nomad to Northcoders Group plc in its £12.5m admission to AIM and fundraise, and itim Group in its £48m admission to AIM and fundraise.
Northcoders is a market leading provider of B2B and B2C coding and software development training. Founded in 2015, its business model operates a hybrid structure with flagship sites in Manchester and Leeds supported by a digital offering to businesses and individuals across the UK. Powered by IP rich technology, Northcoders’ coding school offers boot camp courses to consumers from a range of backgrounds, delivered through virtual and physical learning. It operates in a significant and growing market with structural growth trends further accelerated by Covid-19.
Chris Hill, Founder & CEO of Northcoders Group, said: “Our flotation marks an important milestone in Northcoders’ growth since our foundation in 2015. The investment funds raised will fuel our growth for years to come. I’d like to thank our dedicated team & advisors, especially WH Ireland, for their fantastic support and commitment, which has made this success possible.”
Phillip Wale, CEO of WH Ireland, said: “Northcoders is responding to the acute national need for coders and software specialists against a backdrop of significant long-term structural shortages; while at the same time demonstrating an exceptional success rate in enabling people from all walks of life to adopt a new, rewarding and remunerative career. £3.5m of capital raised will support the company in expanding across the UK and bringing its training to the many students who can benefit from it. Shareholders range through VCT to EIS and Institutional Investors, with Management continuing to hold a significant chunk of equity. At WH Ireland we are absolutely delighted to be associated with this lively, dynamic and exciting growth company.”
itim is a disruptive Saas-based solutions company that has developed its own proprietary end-to-end Omni-channel modular platform, providing store-based retailers with the capability and flexibility to adapt to their customers ever evolving shopping habits. The funds raised will principally be used to take advantage of the structural shifts in the retail sector following Covid-19 to win new customers and to advance their growth strategy; and to pay outstanding consideration on a previous acquisition.
Ali Athar, CEO and Founder of itim commented “To deliver our IPO at a time when the demand for capital from investors was intense was an incredible achievement, demonstrating both the quality of the itim business and its advisory team. It felt at times like sitting on a runway with 100s of other aeroplanes waiting to take off, and half expecting that the flights would run out of runway space. Except we knew that with the excellent ‘piloting’ by the WH Ireland team, it would happen. Their commitment, dedication and expertise gave us huge confidence that we would achieve our goals, which indeed we did, for which I would like to thank all those at WH Ireland and of course the supporting teams of lawyers and accountants.”
Phillip Wale, CEO of WH Ireland, commented “We were delighted to work with the itim team to help in delivering their successful IPO. The omni-channel retail space is seeing significant growth in demand as consumers change their buying habits and itim’s unique solution allows retailers to pivot their business models to meet this demand. We look forward to working with the team over the coming years as they continue to progress their growth strategy.”
