17. Digital Mums

Founders: Kathryn Tyler and Nikki Cochrane
Founded: October 2013 ( May 2014)
Website: www.digitalmums.com

Did you know that there are over two million unemployed mothers in the UK? Did you also know that 70% of stay-at-home mums would return to work if given more flexible options?

While maternal unemployment is rarely discussed, it’s a significant problem blighting the UK economy. Coupled with the worsening digital skills gap, it’s no wonder that critics are gloomy over the UK’s economic future.

Enter Digital Mums.

Having run a marketing agency in Hackney, business partners Kathryn Tyler and Nikki Cochrane were overwhelmed by demand from small businesses who needed help with social media.

After reading a number of reports on how women were disproportionately affected by unemployment in comparison to men, the duo joined the dots and realised that mums with flexible hours – given the right social media skills – would be a perfect match for firms looking to get to grips with online marketing.

Launched in October 2014, Digital Mums delivers 100% online digital and social media training courses to mums of all experiences and abilities.

The business’ second entry in the esteemed Startups 100, moving 43 places up the list, it seeks to empower and upskill mums so they can return to work as soon as possible.

It offers two main courses including a ‘social media management course’ designed for women from all career backgrounds, while its ‘social media marketing associate​ programme’ is designed for those from more of a communication background.

Having grown 600% in the last three years with a team of 35, Digital Mums has upskilled over 700 mums since inception and now trains 104 mums a month.

If the business continues to scale at this rate we’ll see 1,250 new jobs created each year; an achievement which merits recognition.