About Startingpoint

We connect motivated and skilled young people with organisations seeking to make a positive impact

At Startingpoint we’re redefining how young people showcase themselves and secure the right career opportunities.

While qualifications on a CV are important, they don’t fully encapsulate an individual’s potential. We’ve observed the limitations of traditional CVs that often focus solely on academic achievements, neglecting vital interpersonal skills and personality traits essential in today’s job market.

Startingpoint draws on the insights of three founders. Two manage a specialist school for children excluded from or unable to attend mainstream education, and the other, with years running a recruitment agency, recognised many young people who were not academically inclined and struggled to showcase their abilities due to conventional CVs emphasising educational results. This included his son, who had been diagnosed with autism and faced challenges with mainstream schooling and worrying about disclosing his neurodiversity to employers.

At Startingpoint, we’re transforming this narrative. We enable students to showcase themselves as more than a list of qualifications, showcasing their skills, talents, motivation, creativity and potential. Our platform assists individuals in identifying and promoting their inherent skills and values, allowing them to stand out in job applications and beyond.

This journey transcends job hunting; it’s about discovering roles that align with personality and talent while enhancing earning potential and job satisfaction.

Let’s work together to bridge the gap between potential and opportunities.

Meet the Team

Tom Simpson

Managing Director

Tom is the Co Founder and driving force behind Startingpoint. It’s with his first-hand experience and foresight that Startingpoint has been created and developed into the platform it is today. A platform that has never been so relevant to the UK’s workforce requirements.

“Startingpoint is a real passion project for me, enabling people to understand their skills better and fulfil their true value.”

An infographic to show how starting point helps build a conversation between, employers, employees, and mentors

Daniel Brett

Education & Skills Director

Danny is a seasoned education professional with over 20 years of experience in executive roles across the education sector. His extensive background also includes serving in a variety of high profile regional and national roles such as his current position as Vice Chairperson of the Department for Education national T Level Ambassador Network.

“I love Startingpoint because it provides a dynamic platform that empowers students and connects them with meaningful career opportunities, fostering a brighter future for all.”

Daniel Ricardo

Marketing Director

Dan has run his own Digital Marketing Agency for over 20 years. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and resources to help Startingpoint create the best possible platform and content.

“I fell in love with Startingpoint the first time Tom told me about it in 2023. I could see the limitless potential and the immense benefit it could bring to the next generation and the country as a whole. More and more employers are desperate to recruit people based on their personality, values and character rather than just grades.

I also know how vital aspiration and inspiration are to young people, I will do everything possible to get inspiring people in front of young people to help them realise their potential.”

Leigh Smyth FRSA

Strategic Advisor

Leigh is an award-winning accomplished social inclusion activist, strategist, and advisor. She specialises in enabling organisations and leaders to thrive through strategy and by matching them together to foster social good. Her notable achievements include launching the UK’s first children’s technology education range and leading a groundbreaking market model for a government access to skills program that benefited half a million low-income families. As the CEO of the RaceOnline2012 campaign and Go ON UK Charity, Leigh worked alongside her as CEO to Baroness Lane Fox, spearheading initiatives with top FTSEs to drive digital inclusion.

Her impact extends to national initiatives, such when she was the Responsible Transformation Director at LBG including the strategy and delivery of the Lloyds Banking Digital Skills Academy, and setting the UK benchmark for digital skills as well as global collaborations with organisations like the United Nations where she was the advisor on the approach for the financial inclusion targets for all global banks. Leigh is actively involved in campaigns for digital and financial inclusion, having established impact networks such as the Digital Poverty Alliance, and Leigh has also sat as a member on a number of inclusion boards such as Women in Banking and Finance and the @TechTalentCharter. Leigh is also the Digital Leaders Impact Judge and the Chair for the national Impact conference as well as a previous WiBF 2016 award winner and Innovate Finance stand out 35 amongst other awards. Leigh is also a TLC Lion who believes in the power of storytelling to drive workplace culture change and in order to drive more inclusion and impact in the world.

“I am proud to work with Starting Point because I believe in their mission to help every young person share their skills and crucially to also demonstrate their abilities with future employers. Finding people work is one of the biggest things you can do to create social impact. I am a huge supporter of their transformative approach, moving away from the outdated CV model that clearly doesn’t work for many young people, especially where some of the current and traditional education system may not recognise all of the young person’s skills”

Will Griffiths

Director of Partnerships

Will has been hugely successful in his career, heading up teams for well-recognised national businesses. He brings enormous experience in finding and growing partnerships for Startingpoint.

Having suffered a brain injury in his childhood, Will was left with several learning difficulties, which were mostly undetected until in his twenties. Will was constantly being told in school that he could ‘do better’ and that he was lazy. During his final years in comprehensive school he completed a psychometric test in a careers session. The results of which said that he had the capabilities of being either a binman or a producer. Will’s form tutor told him that he should probably concentrate on being a binman as he wasn’t likely to achieve the exam results needed to do anything else.

Not long after leaving school, having achieved no qualifications, Will worked as a hospital porter. One of his main tasks was to collect the rubbish and clinical waste from around the hospital!

It wasn’t until several years later Will was inspired by someone to enter into business and stretch his potential. It wasn’t very much later that Will became Business Development Director for a small publishing and production house and went on to produce documentaries, independent feature films and a prime-time drama series for ITV.

“Startingpoint has become a personal passion for me. Giving people of all ages the opportunity to realise their potential is empowering, and doing so changed the course of my life. Thanks to forward-thinking schools, colleges, apprenticeship providers and even some local authorities that we are now working with, we can make a real difference to people and their futures.”

Matt McKay

Director

As the founder of the innovative and positive Challenge App GOALD, Matt has been instrumental in the plans to integrate it into Startingpoint. The App will give young people a cool way to showcase their personality and raise money for their school at the same time.

Matt’s history of recruitment in the education sector is also a great addition to Startingpoint’s range of experience.

“What I love most about Startingpoint is it puts young people in the driving seat regarding their career. Showcasing and evidencing skills is a game changer and, for the first time, gives employers a true picture of the individual and their abilities.”

Tom Thompson

Client Relationship Manager

Average at school. Studied Travel & Tourism at Further Education College.
Tom’s lecturers told him he would never make it as a holiday rep because he was too quiet and there was no future in it.
Before heading overseas, he went to Uni to study Recreation and Business Management to follow his dream.

Tom went on to have a 17-year career with First Choice and TUI, progressing from Holiday Rep to Resort Manager and Training Holiday Reps.
On returning to the UK, Tom became an apprenticeship assessor and, full circle, became a lecturer in Travel and Tourism. He told youngsters that they could do these positions and showed them how to promote their personality and skills. “Two fingers up at those lecturers who said you can’t do that!!”

“I love Startingpoint because…
It’s all about being able to showcase skills, interests, and talents in a way that a CV cannot do justice to.
It’s about building self-confidence and engaging with future employers and opportunities.
It’s about not having to rely on exam results alone to make a career for themselves.
There’s unrecognised talent in every town in the UK. It’s about giving them a chance.“

Danny Washbrook

Sports Engagement Manager

Former professional rugby league player. Represented Hull FC, Wakefield Trinity and York Knights over a 17-year career. Winner of 2 Challenge Cups and 1 Million Pound Game, now owns a recruitment agency in his home town of Hull. With Danny’s experience and contacts, he can open doors to national sports organisations and encourage them to engage with the platform and the people on it.

“I love Startingpoint as it allows people to showcase the talents employers wouldn’t usually see until after employment. It allows the young person to show their whole character, not just the person behind the desk/tools.”