FI Group Holdings, the parent of accountancy and finance training provider First Intuition, has formed Continua Learning Group by bringing First Intuition together with Decoded and SkillsLab under a single group. The launch follows FI Group Holdings’ acquisition of Decoded and aims to develop professionals across a whole career, with First Intuition Birmingham among the businesses joining the group.

Under the group, First Intuition will provide professional accountancy and finance training, Decoded will focus on data and AI capability, and SkillsLab will cover professional and human skills. All three will keep their own brands, specialist teams and the personal client relationships that businesses value from working with First Intuition.

First Intuition, founded in 2007 and led by chief executive and chairman Martin Taylor, is an accountancy and finance training provider that has received an outstanding grade from Ofsted and has been backed by private equity investor Apiary Capital since 2023. Decoded, a London-based education provider founded in 2011, runs hands-on programmes in digital, data and AI for professionals from graduates to senior leaders.

SkillsLab represents First Intuition’s expansion into human skills development for early career professionals, building on its relationships with more than 1,600 corporate clients.

The structural driver is the pace of technological change and AI adoption, which the group says is outpacing traditional professional development as the skills organisations need from their people shift faster than training has kept up, alongside economic uncertainty and shifting workforce expectations.

Group chief executive Martin Taylor said the ambition is to create “the go-to professional development group for the multi-dimensional employee.”

Taylor said the launch opens broader conversations about how organisations attract, develop and retain the workforce they need for the future, and called it “an exciting development for First Intuition, its learners and employer partners.”

For the sector, the group confirms that training providers are consolidating accountancy, data and human-skills offers under a single umbrella to serve employers’ multi-skill development needs.

Source: greaterbirminghamchambers.com / firstintuition.co.uk / cbinsights.com / linkedin.com / 4dayweek.io