Escape the City
Escape the City is a UK-based purpose-led job board platform founded in 2010, connecting professionals seeking meaningful work with progressive employers via AI-powered matching, employer culture certification, and Escape School career change programmes.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Escape the City does
Escape the City (Escape the City Ltd) is a UK private limited company founded in 2010 by former management consultants Dom Jackman and Rob Symington, headquartered at Platf9rm, Hove Town Hall. The company operates a purpose-led job board platform connecting professionals seeking meaningful work with progressive organisations. Its core product is a web-based job board with AI-powered matching and email alerts that filter opportunities by cause area (e.g., environment, education) and preferred ways of working (flex hours, async, remote, 4-day week); these capabilities were re-launched in 2024 as part of a major platform rebuild. The platform also supports 3,000+ professional volunteer roles through a partnership with Reach Volunteering.
The business monetises across four streams: employer job posting fees (standard and enhanced/premium tiers), commission-based fees charged when a platform member is successfully hired, Top 1% Employer certification (an in-depth culture audit sold as a subscription-style service to employers seeking verification of progressive workplace practices), and Escape School career change programmes priced between £70 and £2,995 per course. Distribution is anchored by a weekly "Top 10 Opportunities" newsletter that has grown to 500,000+ members over 15 years and serves as the primary acquisition channel, supplemented by organic social media, content marketing, and word-of-mouth referrals. The platform reports 13,000+ employers, 17,000+ jobs posted, and 1,500+ Escape School graduates.
Historically bootstrapped, Escape the City raised over £600,000 in 2014 via equity crowdfunding from its own members — at the time a first for an online startup globally — and has not raised reported outside capital since. The company remains founder-led with Dom Jackman at the helm, supported by a small team of 10–15, and is a Certified B Corporation. Recent strategic activity has focused on expanding into adjacent product lines (Shift People & Culture advisory, Top 1% Employer certification, Reach Volunteering partnership), signalling a move from a transactional job board toward a broader purpose-work ecosystem.
Escape the City firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Escape the City
- Legal name
- Escape the City Ltd
- Website
- https://escapethecity.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Escape the City is a UK-based purpose-led job board platform founded in 2010, connecting professionals seeking meaningful work with progressive employers via AI-powered matching, employer culture certification, and Escape School career change programmes.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Escape the City industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Job Board
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Job Placement, Matching & Career Navigation Services (EDAAAOAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Career Exploration & Job Shadowing Programs (EDAMAKAC), Employment & Job Readiness Support Services (BPAGAEAJ)
Keywords
Where Escape the City is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Escape the City business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Job Posting Fees: Employers pay to post job listings on the platform. Standard listings go live once payment clears and are non-refundable. Enhanced or Premium listings receive extended visibility and promotional support.
- Commission-based Hiring: Some job listings operate on a commission basis where employers commit to paying a pre-specified fee if they successfully hire an Escape the City member who viewed the job listing. Payment is due when the successful candidate starts work.
- Top 1% Employer Certification: Organisations pay for certification and badge placement as a progressive employer, gaining access to verified employer status and enhanced visibility to purpose-driven candidates.
- Career Change Programs: Revenue from career change programs including the Career Change Accelerator and Escape School programmes that help professionals transition into purposeful work.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Standard Job Posting |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Enhanced/Premium Listings |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Career Change Programmes - Discover |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Career Change Programmes - Emerging Leader |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Career Change Programmes - Experienced Leader |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Career Change Programmes - Management Fundamentals |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Escape the City product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Escape the City operates a purpose-driven job board platform that connects professionals seeking meaningful work with progressive organisations. The platform provides curated job listings, AI-powered personalised job matching and email alerts, an in-depth Top 1% Employer culture certification programme, professional volunteering opportunities (via Reach Volunteering), and structured career change programmes through Escape School.
Product overview
Escape the City operates a unified platform centred on a purpose-driven job board, complemented by career development services and employer certification. The core product is the job board (escapethecity.org/search/jobs), which connects members with unique roles at progressive organisations and is enhanced by an AI-powered job matching engine that delivers personalised email alerts. Adjacent offerings include the Top 1% Employer certification programme (a badge-based culture audit for employers), the Shift People & Culture advisory service, the Escape School with its Career Change Accelerator, and a professional volunteering portal (via Reach Volunteering). The platform also hosts editorial resources and career change articles.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Escape School: Career change accelerator programmes and courses to help professionals transition into purposeful work
- Top 1% Employer Certification
- Shift
Products and services
- Job Board Platform A purpose-led job board connecting professionals with unique roles at progressive organisations. Features curated job listings, progressive way-of-working filters (flex hours, async hours, remote working trips, 4-day week), and cause-area search functionality.
- Top 1% Employer: Escape Certified An in-depth culture audit and certification programme for organisations, verifying they go above and beyond for their people. Certified employers receive a badge on their listings to signal progressive workplace practices.
- Escape School A collection of career change courses, programmes, and startup accelerators designed to help members make a meaningful career transition into purposeful work. Includes Discover, Management Fundamentals, Emerging Leader, and Experienced Leader programmes.
- Shift - People & Culture Services People & Culture consulting services helping organisations walk the talk on progressive workplace practices, including assessment and advisory services for employers seeking to improve their people operations.
- Volunteering Roles Platform Professional volunteer role listings, hosted in partnership with Reach Volunteering, offering over 3,000 professional volunteer opportunities in the UK for individuals seeking to use their skills for social and environmental causes.
Quantifiable outcome
- 500,000+ members
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Escape the City
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Escape the City technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Escape the City partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Reach VolunteeringcorePartnership to bring professional volunteer opportunities to the platform. Escape the City has partnered with Reach Volunteering to provide the most comprehensive list of professional volunteer opportunities in the UK, extending their mission to help professionals use their skills for good.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Escape the City competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Work180: Purpose-driven job board and employer certification platform focused on verified progressive employers, especially for women. Closely comparable in product (curated jobs + employer endorsement), audience (career changers seeking mission-led roles), and B2B monetisation model (employer subscriptions).
- Ethical Jobs: Job board curating roles at environmental, social and community-focused organisations. Directly comparable as a niche, cause-filtered job platform monetised via employer listings, though primarily ANZ-focused.
- 80,000 Hours: Career guidance platform helping professionals move into high-impact work. Comparable audience (corporate escapees pursuing purposeful careers) and content/community-led GTM motion, though not primarily a transactional job board.
- Work for Good: UK job board for charities and social enterprises, listing roles at purpose-driven organisations. Directly comparable as a niche UK job board monetised through employer postings in the nonprofit/social-enterprise segment.
- Idealist: Global job and volunteer board for nonprofits and social enterprises. Comparable as a purpose-led job platform with volunteer functionality, monetised via employer postings and organisational profiles.
Broad incumbents
- LinkedIn: Largest professional network and horizontal job platform. Competes for employer job posting spend and candidate traffic, and has progressively added cause/flexibility filters that encroach on Escape the City's niche.
- Indeed: Global horizontal job board with massive employer base and free apply functionality. Competes for listing volume and candidate attention, putting continuous pricing pressure on niche boards.
- Reed: UK's largest domestic job board and recruitment firm. Directly competes for UK employer job-posting revenue, with a much larger inventory of listings and recruiter services.
- Guardian Jobs: UK job board from The Guardian with strong traction in charity, public sector and purpose-led roles. Comparable audience of mission-oriented professionals and a similar employer-posting revenue model.
Others
- B Lab: Operator of the B Corp certification standard, with whom Escape the City aligns its brand. Related as an ecosystem enabler — B Corp directory and job-board features overlap with Escape the City's Top 1% Employer positioning.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Escape the City social profiles
Digital presenceEscape the City compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Escape the City financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Escape the City leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Escape the City funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Escape the City M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Escape the City
What does Escape the City do?
Escape the City operates a purpose-driven job board platform that connects professionals seeking meaningful work with progressive organisations. The platform provides curated job listings, AI-powered personalised job matching and email alerts, an in-depth Top 1% Employer culture certification programme, professional volunteering opportunities (via Reach Volunteering), and structured career change programmes through Escape School.
Is Escape the City a public or private company?
Escape the City is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Escape the City founded?
Escape the City was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Escape the City based?
Escape the City is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Escape the City make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Job Posting Fees are the primary driver. The others are commission-based Hiring, top 1% Employer Certification and career Change Programs.
Who are Escape the City's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Work180, Ethical Jobs, 80,000 Hours, Work for Good and Idealist. Broad incumbents are LinkedIn, Indeed, Reed and Guardian Jobs. B Lab is listed as an others.
Does Escape the City have an API?
No public API is recorded for Escape the City.
What industry is Escape the City in?
Escape the City's product category is Online Job Board. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAAAOAL, Job Placement, Matching & Career Navigation Services, with a secondary code of EDAMAKAC, Career Exploration & Job Shadowing Programs. Its NAICS code is 561311 and its SIC code is 7361.