A HR tech company whose platform has attracted a host of blue-chip clients within its first year has raised £2m from Mercia’s EIS funds, the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, and private investors.

The funding will enable Stoke-based Huler to further develop its employee experience platform and create at least 12 new jobs in the year ahead. Huler acts as a ‘launchpad’, bringing together different programs, apps and content that employees require within a slick user interface that provides easy access and improves productivity.

The platform, which was launched in January 2022, has already been adopted by clients including Travelodge, Centrica, EE, Qinetiq and St James’s Place Wealth Management as well as the US corporation Dairy Queen.

Huler was developed by Nicky Hoyland, who had previously worked on the HR integration of Orange and T-Mobile following their merger in 2010 to create EE. After being approached by a number of big companies to provide similar assistance, she set up her own consultancy firm advising and developing bespoke IT solutions for clients including Santander, L’Oréal, River Island and BT.

The business was backed from an early stage by serial entrepreneur Gareth Mobley, whose Stoke-based, tech-enabled fenestration company DW3 Products Group was sold to Masonite International in 2018, and who is now Huler’s Executive Chair. Huler currently employs 53 staff.

Nicky, CEO of Huler, said: 

“With organisations working hard to retain talent, improving the employee experience is a real priority. By bringing consumer-grade technology to the workplace, Huler aims to be the world’s most engaging and intuitive employee engagement platform. This is an exciting time for us in our mission to revolutionise the future of work and we are pleased to welcome Mercia on board to support us in our goals.”

Kiran Mehta, Investment Manager at Mercia, said: 

“With flexible working and the war for talent, the market for HRtech is expanding rapidly. Huler simplifies life for employees and enhances engagement and productivity. Nicky and Gareth have built an impressive client base and made inroads into the US market within their first year. The funding will help them drive further growth in the UK and internationally. It’s a pleasure to partner with Nicky, Gareth and the whole Huler team.”

Mark Wilcockson, Senior Investment Manager, at the British Business Bank, said: 

“The MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund was introduced to invest into SMEs with innovative ideas,  supporting growth and longer term investment into the wider Midlands region. Huler is a perfect example to showcase the MEIF’s ongoing commitment to innovative companies, creating new jobs through the funding. The MEIF encourages similar start-up SMEs to consider the funding options available to support their growth.”

Alun Rogers, Chair of the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP, said: 

“I am very pleased to see yet another Stoke-based tech start-up secure the funding it needs to grow and expand in domestic and international markets. Stoke-on-Trent was recently named the 7th most entrepreneurial city in the UK, and Huler’s employee experience platform is a great example of the kind of innovation we seek to encourage in the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP area.

“We’re excited to see this funding help Huler further build on its success and would encourage other small businesses in the region looking to grow to consider the options available through the MEIF.”

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

ENDS

Press contacts – Mercia

Alison Dwyer

Head of Marketing & Communications

Mercia Asset Management PLC

+44 (0) 7464 480 137

[email protected] 

Pauline Rawsterne
PR Agent
Turquoise PR

+44 (0) 161 860 6063
+44 (0) 780 163 9816

[email protected]

About Mercia Asset Management PLC

Mercia is a proactive, specialist asset manager focused on supporting regional SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations. Mercia provides capital across its four asset classes of balance sheet, venture, private equity and debt capital: the Group’s ‘Complete Connected Capital’. The Group initially nurtures businesses via its third-party funds under management, then over time Mercia can provide further funding to the most promising companies, by deploying direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance sheet.

The Group has a strong UK footprint through its regional offices, 19 university partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow. Mercia currently has c. £1.4 billion of assets under management and, since its IPO in December 2014, has invested over £96million into its direct investment portfolio. Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic “MERC”.

The Group raises its own Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Funds and details about open offers can be found through Mercia’s website.

Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic “MERC” and includes the following wholly owned subsidiaries –

• Mercia Fund Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 524856
• Enterprise Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 183363
• EV Business Loans Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 443560

www.mercia.co.uk

About the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF)

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, will invest in Debt Finance, Small Business Loans, Proof-of-Concept and Equity Finance funds, ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development.

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is operated by British Business Financial Services Limited, wholly owned by British Business Bank, the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity.

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company.

The MEIF covers the following LEP areas: Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, The Marches, and Worcestershire in the West Midlands; and Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (D2N2) Greater Lincolnshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, and South-East Midlands in the East and South-East Midlands.

The project is receiving up to £78,550,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The programme will continue to spend to the end of 2023.

The Department for Levelling Up,  Housing and Communities is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

The European Investment Bank is providing £122,500,000 to support the Midlands Engine Investment Fund. This follows backing for the Northern Powerhouse in 2017 and backing for the newly launched North East Fund. For further information visit www.eib.org

The funds in which Midlands Engine Investment Fund invests are open to businesses with material operations in or planning to open material operations in the West Midlands and East & South-East Midlands.

The British Business Bank has published the Business Finance Guide (in partnership with the ICAEW, and a further 21 business and finance organisations). The guide, which impartially sets out the range finance options available to businesses and provides links to support available at a regional level, is available at https://thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank’s core programmes support nearly £8bn^[1] of finance to almost 94,800 smaller businesses^[2]. Since March 2020, the British Business Bank has also launched four new Coronavirus business loan schemes, delivering almost £73bn of finance to around 1.6m businesses.

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses. The British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic and EU Exit, the Finance Hub has expanded and it now targets a wider business audience. It continues to provide information and support for scale-up, high growth and potential high growth businesses, but now provides increased content, information and products for businesses in survival and recovery mindsets. The Finance Hub has been redesigned and repositioned to reflect this, during this period of economic uncertainty.

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. They are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at www.british-business-bank.co.uk.