Corporate News

Northcoders Group plc, an independent provider of training programmes for software coding, is delighted to announce admission of its entire issued share capital to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (“Admission”). Admission will take place, and dealings in the Company’s ordinary shares will commence, at 8.00 a.m. today under the ticker “CODE”.

Northcoders, headquartered in Manchester, is an independent provider of training programmes for software coding.  It offers a range of training and software development solutions to individual and corporate customers. The Company’s offering includes ‘bootcamp’ training courses, government funded apprenticeships, bespoke training courses and software development solutions.  The Company operates a hybrid delivery model by providing its services in person, at one of Northcoders’ regional office ‘hubs’ currently located in Manchester and Leeds, and digitally via its online platform.

In conjunction with Admission, the Company has raised from investors gross proceeds of £3.5 million  by way of a placing and subscription of 1,944,444 new ordinary shares of one penny each (the “Fundraising”) at a price of 180 pence per share (the "Placing Price").

WH Ireland Limited ("WH Ireland") and Peterhouse Capital Limited ("Peterhouse") have acted as joint placing agents.  WH Ireland is acting as Nominated Advisor and Broker to the Company.

Key Highlights

• The market capitalisation of the Company will be approximately £12.5 million on Admission.
• On Admission, the Company will have 6,944,445 Ordinary Shares in issue and a free float of approximately 29.6 per cent.
• Placing and subscription to raise gross proceeds of £3.5 million (before expenses) for the Company.
• Net proceeds of the Placing received by the Company will principally be used to facilitate its stated growth strategy, particularly enabling it to roll out its model geographically with an additional hub in Birmingham and the opening of two other regional hubs in 2022.
• On Admission, the Directors will own approximately 38.15 per cent. of the issued Ordinary Shares.
• The ISIN of the Company’s ordinary shares is GB00BL97B942, the SEDOL of the ordinary shares is BL97B942 and the Company's LEI number is 9845020C4906942B7C18.

The Company's AIM admission document (the "Admission Document") is available to view on the Company's website: www.northcodersgroup.com.

Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Northcoders, commented: “The support that the Company has received from investors has been very encouraging and we are delighted to be joining  AIM, which is a significant milestone in the evolution of our business.  The Board joins me in welcoming all of our new shareholders.

“We now look forward to implementing our strategy and leveraging our position as one of the independent providers of training programmes for software coding here in the UK as well as expanding our business further by rolling out three additional hubs by the end of 2022.  We look forward to providing updates on our progress, and delivering value to our shareholders.”

FOR FURTHER ENQUIRIES:

OVERVIEW OF NORTHCODERS

Key attributes of the Northcoders' business are as follows:

• A balanced business model

  Northcoders derives its business from both private individuals and corporate clients and its courses are delivered through a combination of classroom and online teaching.  The courses are typically paid for in advance by private individuals.  Alternatively, they are paid for over the duration of the course via government funded apprenticeships or on agreed terms with student finance providers or with corporate customers.  The Group became a direct apprenticeship provider in December 2020, and enrolled students on its first direct apprenticeships in January 2021.  This has opened up a significant opportunity to grow revenues in an area which is already receiving and is expected to continue to receive substantial government support.

• Market leading services and a strong brand

  Northcoders provides flexible and extensive services, offering core training programmes alongside bespoke training solutions delivered in-person and online to meet the needs of customers.  Courses cover a comprehensive range of coding languages including Node.js, SQL and DOM.  Courses are typically oversubscribed and to ensure that the quality is maintained there are stringent entry requirements.

  Northcoders enjoys high levels of customer satisfaction and has a 4.9/5 star Feefo rating.  The Northcoders’ brand is supported by over 250 companies who have hired a Northcoder graduate.  These companies are classified as hiring partners by Northcoders.  Many of these hiring partners have repeatedly hired Northcoders’ graduates.  As a result, approximately 95% of students have to date found employment within 44 days of completing a Northcoders’ training course.

• A proven, flexible and scalable platform

  The Company has an established presence in Manchester and Leeds which is complemented by a proven online offering and which together provide flexibility for students.  In addition to the increased delivery of content online, Northcoders’ own proprietary IP in its platform has enabled the Group to streamline and automate elements of its course delivery which allows the model to be easily scaled-up.

• Strong growth drivers

  The UK Commission for Employment and Skills estimates that 1.2 million new technically skilled people are needed by 2022 to satisfy future skills needs in the UK.  The Directors believe that Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transformation, increasing the demand for technically skilled people which is recognised by the government through its funding initiatives.

• A clear growth strategy

  The Directors’ strategy is to scale-up the Group’s hybrid delivery model through a roll out of further regional hubs. Initial target areas for new hubs include Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield with the ultimate goal of creating a substantial network of Northcoders hubs across the UK.

  In addition to geographical expansion, the Directors believe that there is the opportunity to further develop the corporate solutions division which provides software development solutions to meet the specific requirements of corporate customers.

• A fully accredited apprenticeship provider

  The Group is a fully accredited apprenticeship provider having acquired the relevant accreditation in December 2020.

Important notices

Capitalised terms used in the Admission Document have the same meanings in this announcement unless the context provides otherwise.

This announcement includes statements which are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements".  These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "plans", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology.  These forward-looking statements include matters that are not historical facts.  They appear in a number of places throughout this announcement and include statements regarding the directors' current intentions, beliefs or expectations concerning, among other things, the Company's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the Company's markets.  By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances.  Actual results and developments could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actual results.  Any forward-looking statements in this announcement are based on certain factors and assumptions, including the directors' current view with respect to future events and are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity.  Whilst the directors consider these assumptions to be reasonable based upon information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect.  Save as required by applicable law or regulation, the Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this announcement that may occur due to any change in the directors' expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement.

Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this announcement.