Blind in Business

What Blind in Business does

Blind in Business is a UK-registered charity (registered number 1011957) founded in 1992/1993 that supports blind and partially sighted individuals into employment through careers advice, training, and employer engagement services. The organization operates a unified service offering rather than a modular platform, combining Employment Services (job search support, interview preparation, assistive technology guidance, workplace adjustment advice), Training Services (courses for graduates, younger students aged 13-18, employers, and carers), and a year-round Events Program. Named programs include the flagship two-day residential Education to Employment workshop, peer-led Building Prospects workshops for 13-18 year olds, Expectations Exceeded for parents and carers, Future Focus for school children, Total Technology for assistive technology training, and Employer Training Courses. The organization has trained 500+ graduates and served 6,438+ participants in courses and workshops over a nine-year window, and claims 30+ years of specialized experience.

The charity is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Jane Cathrall (also Executive Director for People at the Bank of England) and is headquartered in London with regional delivery through hubs in Manchester, Leeds, and event venues in Waltham Cross and Birmingham. Its underlying technology is advisory and human-led rather than platform-based: services are delivered via in-office consultations (London), virtual/Zoom workshops, on-site employer events, and school/college visits across England, Wales, and Scotland. The organization maintains curated employer partnerships with high-profile organizations including KPMG, Tesco, Bank of England, ITV, BBC, HarperCollins, Severn Trent, Fortem, and Dolphin Computer Access, which function as work experience, mock interview, and insight event hosts.

The business model is entirely grant-funded and free at the point of delivery. Revenue is sourced from charitable trusts and foundations (Big Lottery Fund for England and Wales, Edward Gostling Foundation, Children in Need, City Bridge Foundation, The Powell Family Foundation, Thomas Pocklington Trust), corporate donors, Livery Companies (Worshipful Company of World Traders and others), and individual donations via JustGiving. No fees are charged to beneficiaries (blind and partially sighted individuals, parents, carers, or employers), and no commercial revenue, government contracts, or fee-for-service arrangements are disclosed. The organization has 1-10 employees, no subsidiaries, no parent company, and no disclosed funding rounds, consistent with its nonprofit operating structure.

Name

Blind in Business

Legal name

Blind in Business

Website

https://blindinbusiness.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Blind in Business is a UK charity that supports blind and partially sighted students and graduates into employment through free training, careers advice, and employer engagement programs, funded by charitable trusts and foundation grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disability Employment Services

NAICS

Vocational Rehabilitation Services (6243), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (624310)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Disability Employment & Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Programs (EDAAAOAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Disability Services & Assistive Solutions (Accessibility, Assistive Tech) (BPAGALAM), Assistive Technology (AT) & Accessible Learning Tools (EDALAGAB)

Keywords

• Disability employment services
• Careers training programmes
• Visual impairment support
• Employer accessibility training
• Charitable employment charity

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Charitable Funding: Funded by trusts, foundations, corporate donors, and individual donations. Major funders include Children in Need, City Bridge Foundation, The Powell Family Foundation, Thomas Pocklington Trust, Edward Gostling Foundation, and various Livery Companies including the Worshipful Company of World Traders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Blind in Business provides free employment support, training courses, and events that help blind and partially sighted students, graduates, and adults identify career ambitions, prepare for interviews, obtain workplace equipment, and sustain employment. The charity also trains employers on accessible recruitment and workplace adjustments, and engages schools, colleges, and parents/carers to support visually impaired young people through career planning.

Product overview

Blind in Business is a UK charity providing a unified service offering centered on employment support for blind and partially sighted people. The organization operates as a single integrated service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, combining Employment Services, Training Services, and an Events Program. Key offerings include Building Prospects (peer-led workshops for young people 13-18), Expectations Exceeded (parent/carer role model workshops), Future Focus (career planning for teenagers), Total Technology (custom assistive technology training), Education to Employment (flagship residential program), and Employer Training Courses. The services span career planning, interview preparation, assistive technology guidance, and employer education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Education to Employment: Flagship two-day residential workshop combining adventure team building, alumni networking, mock assessment centre, and practice interviews with employers
• Building Prospects
• Expectations Exceeded
• Future Focus
• Total Technology
• Pathways Service
• Jobs Club

Products and services

• Employment Services
• Training Services
• Events Program
• Building Prospects
• Expectations Exceeded
• Future Focus
• Total Technology
• Education to Employment
• Employer Training Courses

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully trained over 500 graduates into employment
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Dolphin Computer AccesscoreTechnology or Integration · 24 June 2025Co-hosting three-day tech-based virtual work experience for blind and partially sighted students aged 13-18. Focus on accessible technology careers, confidence building projects, and transferable workplace skills development.
• Moor VisionminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2025Collaboration for Building Prospects workshop in Exeter. Joint delivery of career planning and interview preparation for blind and partially sighted students.
• ITVminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 June 2025Insight days and masterclasses at ITV's London offices. Includes career guidance, mock interviews, and apprenticeship/graduate scheme information for visually impaired students.
• KPMGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 May 2025Education to Employment Birmingham 2025 partnership focused on finance and professional services. Includes company office visits and mock interviews at KPMG-affiliated organizations.
• Severn TrentminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 April 2025Insight day at Severn Trent's Coventry headquarters. Includes assessment centre-style activities and recruitment guidance for visually impaired students and graduates.
• TescocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 December 2024Work experience collaboration providing 5-day placements in Tesco stores for visually impaired students aged 13-18. Part of Tesco's ambition to provide 200,000 work experience opportunities for SEND students. Flexible scheduling offered.
• FortemminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 September 2024May Half Term virtual work experience partnership with social housing contractor. Focus on personal brand development and career ambition fulfillment for blind and partially sighted students.
• KPMGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 August 2024Partnership for insight days, mock interviews, and work experience programs. KPMG hosts events in their London and Manchester offices. Includes senior staff presentations, team building exercises, and recruitment process guidance specifically designed for visually impaired candidates.
• Bank of EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 July 2024Mock interview events held at the Bank of England's Threadneedle Street location. Provides face-to-face interview practice opportunities for visually impaired students and graduates with real employer feedback.
• BBCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerApprenticeship webinar sessions exploring BBC's apprenticeship schemes and adaptive technology integration in the workplace.
• HarperCollinsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQ&A webinar sessions about careers in publishing, application tips, and interview guidance specifically for visually impaired candidates.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People): UK charity providing employment, training and employer-engagement services specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Strong functional peer — same service architecture (training, employer insight days, assistive-tech advisory) but for a different sensory-impairment group, making it the closest analogue within UK disability-employment charities.
• Thomas Pocklington Trust: UK charity focused on blind and partially sighted people, with significant employment, education, and research programmes. Direct peer because both organisations target the same beneficiary population for employment outcomes; also a current BiB funder, signalling close programmatic alignment.
• Remploy: UK provider of employment services for disabled people, with established employer engagement and supported-employment programmes. Directly comparable because both organisations place disabled candidates into mainstream employment and broker employer relationships, though Remploy covers all disabilities.

Regional players

• Blind Veterans UK: UK charity supporting blind and partially sighted veterans with employment, training and wellbeing services. Comparable as a peer serving the same VI population for employment outcomes, but scoped to a specific beneficiary subset (veterans) rather than the general student/graduate population BiB targets.

Broad incumbents

• Guide Dogs for the Blind Association: Major UK charity supporting blind and partially sighted people, providing mobility services and increasingly employment-related advice. Comparable because it serves the same beneficiary population and overlaps on employer-engagement activity, though its core focus is mobility rather than careers.
• Scope: Major UK disability charity running employment support programmes (e.g., Scope's employment service) alongside broader campaigning. Comparable because it competes for the same employer-inclusion budget and grant funding pool, though it covers all disabilities rather than specialising in vision impairment.
• Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB): UK's largest charity for blind and partially sighted people, offering employment support, advice, and employer engagement as part of a wider portfolio of services. Comparable because it overlaps directly with BiB's employment-services mission but operates at materially greater scale and across many more service lines.
• Leonard Cheshire: UK disability charity running employment, skills, and inclusion programmes for disabled people across the UK. Comparable as a peer operating in disability-employment and employer-engagement, though it spans all impairment types rather than specialising in vision.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/blindinbusiness
• YouTubeyoutube.com/profile?user=blindinbusiness
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Blind-in-Business/136724053055249
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blind-in-business

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blind in Business