It’s time to rethink traditional hiring processes
The demand for digital skills is growing faster than the talent pool. Nearly half of UK firms struggle to recruit for roles requiring digital skills, while 9 in 10 small-to-medium businesses report skills gaps. Unlike large employers, smaller companies have fewer resources to compete for talent or invest in training.
Many rely on the same shortcuts – personal networks, degrees and experience. But when this becomes the default way to find people, it can shrink the talent pool and mean good candidates go overlooked.
Reach is a fully-funded programme developed by LSE and delivered by Be the Business to test and refine new ways to help businesses find the people they need, while improving opportunities for people from lower-income backgrounds.
THE LONG-TERM VALUE OF THE REACH PROGRAMME
Reach more people
Connect with candidates you might not otherwise reach. Access a broader range of people to strengthen your team with different skills and perspectives.
Control salary costs
Uncover more ways to hire people from new or more diverse backgrounds to decrease salary pressure, manage inflation and make labour more affordable.
Find overlooked talent
Increase your chances of making a great hire. Look beyond traditional qualifications and experience to find capable candidates who might otherwise be missed.
Reduce hiring costs
Reduce your reliance on recruitment agencies. Explore alternative ways to find candidates that could make hiring more cost-effective.
Build skills you need
Identify people with potential and develop the skills your business needs. Access training, mentoring and expert support to help you get there.
Drive social impact
Create opportunities for people from lower-income backgrounds while meeting social value requirements for public sector contracts.
Reach is designed for UK business leaders who:
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Employ under 250 people
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Use technology in daily operations
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Plan to hire in the next 6-12 months
How it works
Phase 1: Share your experience
To help inform Reach, research experts from LSE held 30 interviews with a range of small and medium sized businesses, reflecting on the highs and lows of their hiring processes for digital skills roles.
Status: Complete
Phase 2: Test new approaches
Be one of 120 businesses helping to test and refine new approaches to hiring, informed by the research. Join educational sessions, gain access to new hiring resources and get practical support — whether 1:1 with your mentor or more widely through the community.
Status: Open
When: From October 2026 onwards
What: 1 × 15-min suitability chat, 12-month commitment
Phase 3: Scale what works
The most effective approaches will be refined and shared more widely, helping close to 2,000 small-to-medium businesses explore better ways to reach and hire talent.
Status: Coming soon
When: Mid-late 2027 and beyond
What: Full details to be shared in advance
What you'll get from Phase 2 of Reach
Find the talent your competitors are overlooking
Get hands-on help from day one to rethink how you hire. Rewrite job ads to attract a wider pool of candidates, swap CV sifts for skills-based tasks that show what people can really do and run sharper interviews so the best person gets the job.
Get guidance in 1:1 sessions tailored to your needs
Get 1:1 time every month with a senior leader from a larger organisation who's tackled hiring challenges at scale. They'll be a sounding board when things get tricky and help you keep up the momentum as you try new approaches.
Gain access to HR expertise without the hefty price tag
Access expert HR advice when you need it, whether that's setting up anonymised screening, adapting your recruitment software or working out how to fit a new approach into your process. You get specialist support without the cost of an in-house team.
Learn alongside other leaders facing similar challenges
Join a community of business leaders testing the same approaches. Swap notes on what's working in regular peer sessions and stay connected through an online community where you can share wins, ask questions and get answers from experts.
Join 120 business leaders transforming how hiring works
Test and refine research-backed approaches to hiring for digital and tech roles, while relying less on recruitment agencies.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Reach is designed to support small-to-medium businesses in the UK that have under 250 employees, use technology in their daily operations and plan to hire in the next 6-12 months.
You may also sell technology-based products and services, but this is not a requirement.
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Phase 2 of Reach will require a 12-month commitment from your business, with varying levels of engagement throughout the year. On average, you can expect to dedicate 1-2 hours per month to programme activities, including events, research activities, peer learning opportunities, and progress updates.
The exact amount of time required from your business will depending on whether you are selected for the test group or the control group. These selections will be at random. We encourage you to apply for Reach and can share more information in a short 15-min suitability call following your application.
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To know whether an approach genuinely improves hiring, we need to compare businesses that use it with businesses that don't – the same way medical trials test a new treatment. So once all 120 places are filled, businesses will be placed at random into one of two groups:
Group 1 starts using the new approaches and receives support as soon as the programme is launched.
Group 2 carries on hiring as usual for now, shares a few short updates and then receives exactly the same support once the initial testing has been completed.
Everyone gets the full support, just at different times. And whichever group you're in, your business directly shapes the evidence behind better hiring for thousands of UK firms.
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Reach stands for Research, Evidence and Approaches to Competitive Hiring. The programme name is designed to reflect the robust academic research that backs the programme, as well as its practical aim: to improve access to talent and hiring practices for UK businesses.
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Great! Please send your message over to community@bethebusiness.com and a member of our team will be in touch.