Apiary Capital invests in First Intuition

Apiary Capital has completed a significant investment in First Intuition, the specialist provider of accountancy training. Apiary’s investment will support First Intuition’s management team to grow the company’s apprenticeship and commercial training streams, continue its regional expansion and pursue strategic acquisition opportunities.

First Intuition delivers accountancy training to around 5,000 learners via centres in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and through online and hybrid courses. First Intuition’s apprenticeship and commercial training pathways both lead to qualifications and membership of the four main accounting bodies, the AAT, CIMA, ACCA and ICAEW. Its apprenticeship provision is rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.

The accountancy training market is sizeable, and First Intuition is one of only a few providers capable of delivering specialist training at scale to accountancy and professional services firms and corporates. First Intuition’s focus on customer service and student experience, and its high-quality teaching and excellent outcomes, is enabling it to gain market share. In recent years, it has been selected by several top 20 national professional firms to provide training to their school-leaver and graduate trainees.

First Intuition is the tenth investment in Apiary’s maiden £200m fund that was raised in June 2018.

“We are delighted to have secured the support of Apiary Capital,” said Martin Taylor, CEO of First Intuition. “It was very important to us to find an investment partner that had the right cultural fit and appreciated that the values we have as an organisation are key to our success. We have a clear strategic plan and the management team have re-invested alongside Apiary so that we are fully aligned. The investment will allow us to grow our provision across the country and support our valued customer base.”

Jess French, Investment Director at Apiary, commented: “We are so pleased to be supporting Martin and the management team at First Intuition. We had followed the progress of the business for several years and have long been impressed by the company’s evident commitment to educational quality and its willingness to develop long-term partnerships with its customers. The team have a considered growth plan that ensures their focus remains on learner success and customer service.”