Latest news with #EuanBlair
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tech training funding fails to keep pace with IT growth
This story was originally published on To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily newsletter. As numerous reports have documented, most large companies are — as one would expect — spending more on technology each year. Does it follow, then, that their spending on technology training is on the same path? Not according to Multiverse, a learning company that identifies and closes skills gaps through personalized, on-the-job learning. It has an obvious interest in the topic, which led it to analyze 700 annual reports of the 100 most highly capitalized blue chips listed on the London Stock Exchange (i.e., the FTSE 100). The analysis was based on the hypothesis that if skills are critical to business strategy, you would expect them to play a prominent role in annual reports. The hypothesis proved invalid, according to Multiverse. While 69% of U.K. companies and 76% of those in the U.S. mentioned 'a strategic priority relating to technology' in their latest reports, only 7% and 8%, respectively, described skills and training as a strategic priority, the learning company said. 'This proportion has not improved since 2013, while technology has shot up in importance, suggesting that boardrooms are not yet recognizing its sweeping impact on workforce skills requirements,' Multiverse said. Similarly, while 49% of the U.K. FTSE 100 companies and 48% of U.K. firms mentioned AI as part of their strategy, only 34% and 18%, respectively, referenced AI training. Compared to mentions of other major training categories — DEI training (97%), compliance training (97%) and health/safety training (89%) — the proportion of reports containing references to AI training 'appears low for a technology that most companies are striving to adopt,' according to Multiverse. This embedded content is not available in your region. Further, while 78% of the FTSE 100 companies mentioned a strategic skills review at the board level in their latest annual report, just 17% mentioned a broader review of workforce skills. Multiverse's study report cited findings from the U.K.'s Institute for Fiscal Studies, confirming that the average number of days of workforce training received each year has fallen over the last decade. And according to a study of 251 U.S. companies by Training magazine, U.S. training expenditures decreased 3.7% in 2024, falling to $98 billion. Multiverse's study estimates that a median of 0.16% of company revenue was typically spent on training. Nearly a third (30%) of FTSE companies shared how much training employees received, which averaged 23.8 hours per year. 'Technology tools are only as good as the people who use them,' said Multiverse CEO Euan Blair. 'Without prioritizing people, companies will be left with tech strategies that are missing a key piece of the puzzle.' Multiverse said its study used a large language model (GPT-4o), keyword-based methods, and a manual labeling process for verification. The analysis took 2013 as a baseline for comparison against the most recent 2023 or 2024 annual reports while also examining incremental changes since 2018. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Euan Blair's start-up loses £60m after rushed US expansion
Euan Blair's technology start-up lost more than £60m last year as the company counted the cost of a rushed US launch. Multiverse was set up by Mr Blair – son of Sir Tony Blair, the former prime minister – in 2016. It offers to match apprentices to technology companies, and grew revenues by 29pc to £58.4m in the year to March last year. However, losses climbed from £45m to £60.6m. The company said it was on the path to profitability. Multiverse, valued at $1.7bn (£1.3bn), laid off staff in the US over the period after Mr Blair conceded that the company had expanded in America too fast. It left a federally-approved apprenticeship system last year after limited enthusiasm for the regulated scheme and said it had 'rightsized' staff numbers there. Mr Blair's company, which links apprentices with tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Just Eat and provides on-the-job training, has continually made losses. The figures were also affected by two acquisitions, of US companies Peergrade and Searchlight, and by a jump in overall staff numbers. Headcount grew from 690 to 822 despite the company losing 103 employees including from US redundancies. Jillian Gillespie, Multiverse's chief financial officer who recently joined from software company MongoDB, said companies in Europe need to become 'more comfortable' with loss making businesses. 'All my life I've worked at companies who found an enormous market by making losses for prolonged periods before becoming profitable,' she said. 'To be serious about creating great European tech companies we have to get more comfortable with businesses following this path. I joined MongoDB when it was a bit further behind in its journey to IPO than Multiverse is today: but the momentum in these annual accounts is a good sense of the direction we're taking the business towards.' Mr Blair, 41, owns almost 19pc of the company, according to Companies House records, a stake that would be worth around £250m at its $1.7bn valuation in 2022. The entrepreneur has targeted apprenticeships for people from underprivileged backgrounds, and has repeatedly said that an obsession with academia has held back opportunities. The position is in marked contrast to Mr Blair's father, who as prime minister targeted 50pc of school leavers going to university. Multiverse's investors include the Walton family, the American dynasty behind the Walmart retail giant. Investment company StepStone and venture capital firms Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst led a $220m funding round in 2022. The company said the number of apprentices it has trained now stands at 18,521, up from 13,300 a year earlier. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
29-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Euan Blair's start-up loses £60m after rushed US expansion
Euan Blair's technology start-up lost more than £60m last year as the company counted the cost of a rushed US launch. Multiverse was set up by Mr Blair – son of Sir Tony Blair, the former prime minister – in 2016. It offers to match apprentices to technology companies, and grew revenues by 29pc to £58.4m in the year to March last year. However, losses climbed from £45m to £60.6m. The company said it was on the path to profitability. Multiverse, valued at $1.7bn (£1.3bn), laid off staff in the US over the period after Mr Blair conceded that the company had expanded in America too fast. It left a federally approved apprenticeship system last year after limited enthusiasm for the regulated scheme and said it had 'right-sized' staff numbers there. Mr Blair's company, which links apprentices with tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Just Eat and provides on-the-job training, has continually made losses. The figures were also affected by two acquisitions, of US companies Peergrade and Searchlight, and by a jump in overall staff numbers. Headcount grew from 690 to 822 despite the company losing 103 employees including from US redundancies. Jillian Gillespie, Multiverse's chief financial officer who recently joined from software company MongoDB, said companies in Europe needed to become 'more comfortable' with loss-making businesses. 'All my life I've worked at companies who found an enormous market by making losses for prolonged periods before becoming profitable,' she said. 'To be serious about creating great European tech companies we have to get more comfortable with businesses following this path. I joined MongoDB when it was a bit further behind in its journey to IPO than Multiverse is today: but the momentum in these annual accounts is a good sense of the direction we're taking the business towards.' Mr Blair, 41, owns almost 19pc of the company, according to Companies House records, a stake that would be worth around £250m at its $1.7bn valuation in 2022. The entrepreneur has targeted apprenticeships for people from underprivileged backgrounds, and has repeatedly said that an obsession with academia has held back opportunities. The position is in marked contrast to Mr Blair's father, who as prime minister targeted 50pc of school leavers going to university. Multiverse's investors include the Walton family, the American dynasty behind the Walmart retail giant. Investment company StepStone and venture capital firms Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst led a $220m funding round in 2022. The company said the number of apprentices it has trained now stands at 18,521, up from 13,300 a year earlier.
