This month, Recruitment Grapevine charts the career journey of
James Uffindell, Founder & CEO of Bright Network
By Sophie Parrott
This month, Recruitment Grapevine charts the career journey of
James Uffindell, Founder & CEO of Bright Network
1997 – 2000
Philosophy, Politics and Economics
2004 – 2007
Co-Founder
A friend and I started Pure Potential as a social enterprise to help students from low-income families apply to university. It was an amazing project that was backed by leading Blue Chips and has now helped more than one million students apply to university.
1999 – 2013
Founder & CEO
I started Oxbridge Applications in my last year at university from my student bedroom. I was 20 and had no idea what do to do with my life. I learnt a lot in a short space of time – the importance of being hyper-focused on your customers, how finding great people for your team is critical and the importance of hustle and hard work. I exited the business for a seven-figure sum in 2013.
2012 – Present
Private Investor
Having sold my first business I started investing in other early-stage businesses – to support them with capital, but more importantly to share what I had learnt from starting my first business from scratch, building it and selling it. Being an investor makes me a better an entrepreneur as I look at my own business more critically to make sure we’re always at the top of our game.
2013 – Present
CEO & Founder
I didn’t come from a well-connected family; my mum was a secretary and my dad was a shepherd. Having sold my first business, it was clear that entry-level recruitment was based far too much on family connections and it was a broken market - I wanted to fix the problem so that candidates and employers could connect more efficiently and fairly.