What’s the story behind Gaia?


We’re on a mission to shake up recruitment in both the public and private sectors — and we’d love for you to join us on that journey!

We’re not the new kid on the block

We might seem like the new kid on the block, but we’ve been around the search and social media recruitment space since 2017. Before we rebranded to Gaia, we were known as Socially Recruited. 

We’ve adopted a new look and name thanks to our acquisition of soccialy. 

Together, Socially Recruited and soccialy make Gaia what it is today. 

We’re the candidate-obsessive recruitment platform. 



Where it all began

When we launched, back in 2017 (how time flies!) social media was rarely considered a recruitment channel. Some employers posted jobs on their social media channels but there was no paid media spend, targeting and a lack of strategy. Our Co-Founders Ben & Gareth recognised the opportunity that social media presented and so Socially Recruited was born.

Ben and Gareth had seen first hand that employers were using outdated recruitment methods and that candidates were receiving a poor experience. They knew change needed to happen.

We’re fixing these

big recruitment problems

Simplifying job
applications

Our mission is to make it as easy to apply for a job, as it is to buy on Amazon. Candidates apply quickly and easily, giving employers a wide range of diverse candidates for future growth.

Modernising
recruitment methods

Employers are using outdated methods. Candidates are in short supply. Candidate experience is poor.

Easier talent attraction

We exist to fix this. To bring on a new era in recruitment. Making talent attraction easier. Making jobs accessible for all.

Gaia: the new name for the unified forces of soccialy and Socially Recruited

Founded by Ben and Gareth, our recent acquisition of soccialy, marks a significant milestone in our journey. This strategic merger brings together two successful companies - one specialising in education and the other in the commercial sector. 

The power of social recruitment

After years of demonstrating how effective social media recruitment can be, its impact is clear. The numbers don't lie.

4.4 million

Candidates started an application via our ads in 2023

150% growth

Year on growth

50+ people

Incredible people working on our mission

8 applications/min

Candidates apply for a job through us every minute!

Fixing a fragmented recruitment ecosystem

We’ve seen the challenges of recruitment, where job boards can feel like a firehose - overwhelming and inefficient. Candidates loathe the tedious process of applying through job boards, facing frustrations at every turn. On the flip side, recruitment agencies serve as a costly fallback for employers, though their solutions lack scalability and often recycle the same pool of candidates from job boards.

Amidst this chaos, the ecosystem remains deeply fragmented, with numerous players and new entrants constantly vying for attention. It's a perfect storm of inefficiency and dissatisfaction, where neither candidates nor employers find adequate solutions.
‍
At Gaia, we stand in the middle, filtering out the noise to connect the right talent with the right opportunities.Our rebrand to Gaia marks our commitment to staying ahead. By using cutting-edge technology and an empathetic approach, we reshape recruitment for the future. Staying several paces ahead of the evolving demands on the businesses and consumers.

‍

Meet our

founders

Gareth Thyer-Jones

Gareth's first job was at a local turkey farm, where he performed various tasks that motivated him to explore other career opportunities. Outside of work, Gareth values spending time with family and enjoys early Sunday morning mountain biking as a form of escapism and mental reset for the week ahead.

Ben Keighley

At the age of five, Ben's first job was assembling pizza boxes for his dad's pizza shop, marking an early introduction to hard work. In his personal time, Ben prioritises family and finds peace in running. He is currently training for an ultramarathon, using long runs to relax and clear his mind.

Our Commitment

At Gaia, we are committed to simplify recruitment for the public sector, private sector, and recruitment agencies through innovative search and social recruitment strategies. Our collaborative efforts and shared vision for the future position us to deliver exceptional value to our clients, ensuring they receive the best candidates with the minimum cost and effort.

Our results and clients

speak for themselves

“We've had some people who said that they weren't necessarily looking for jobs, but because they've seen on their social media and it looked interesting, they applied and we hired them.”
Alice Pitt
HR Advisor at Royal High School of Bath
“A lot of data and statistics around the types of reach that our adverts are having in terms of both area and gender, ethnicity and to be able to kind of target our efforts to those harder to reach places.”
Hayley Shaw
Head of HROD at City of Bristol College
“I now feel like I have more time and actually the job is being done by a professional company who will know their way around each and every social platform in some depth.”
John Newbould
Head of Marketing at Bolton School
“The tools that Gaia offered to help drive people to our website, has really helped!”
Nicola Plenderleith
Head of Talent Acquisition at Leyton
“Running our campaigns via Gaia meant that we can run brand awareness and recruitment campaigns…all with one provider.”
Adele Chaplin
Media Manager
“Gaia understood what we were looking for, target that candidate market based on what we were trying to achieve for each campaign ”
Catherine Crowley
Head of People’s Operations at Travel Lodge
“...and what I'd say the key is that people listen and respond to our needs and when we need need them to respond to...”
Nick Hurn
Chief Executive Officer at BWCET
“We decided to use Gaia because they offered innovative solutions to age-old problems.”
Senior HR Professional
The Thomas Adams School
“They're really fun and easy to work with. The bulk of the work that I would usually do is given to Gaia”
Bav Dhanda
Recruitment Marketing & Engagement Officer
“Gave us really detailed insights to help us decide what’s the best approach to meeting our needs.”
Louise Coulbeck
Head of Talent Acquisition
“It fit with our values and thus to be different and stand out in the marketplace.”
James O'Loughlin
Head of Talent Aquisiton at Moore Barlow
“We decided to use Gaia because it's basically tapping into the pool of candidates that is passive and isn't necessarily going out of their way to look at job boards.”
Angela Bull
Director of HR at Unity Schools
“We have been able to reach people who would not have come across us. It’s just opened up a whole world of candidates!”
Sri
HR & Recruitment Partner
“A really flexible organisation that allows us to work in partnership with them to get our recruitment strategy and messages right.”
David Fisher
Headteacher at Kings Langley School
“The idea being that they're applying to our schools, and the interview day, we've got five, six, seven people to interview rather than just one person.”
Jillur Rahman
Regional Director at CST
“We were able to do campaigns for specific roles and specific locations and also the fact that we were able to get the name out there.”
Diane Sokolyk
HR Consultant
“You write short, snappy copy because I say what I want and then you guys turn it around.”
Harriet Canavan
Marketing Manager at Sibford Shcool
“Some of the quality of the applications wasn't as high as it had been in the past before using you guys.”
Gill Gildersleve
HR Manager at Waldegrave School
“Gaia targeted the candidates for us and we actually got 3 more candidates than we needed so we did actually make those positions and took them onboard.”
Kirstin Crabbe
Head of Resourcing at Sustrans
“You literally doubled the number of applicants that we received for this role, bigger pool, bigger opportunity to get the right person.”
Sarah Agar-Brennan
Head of Enterprise at University of Huddersfield
“And something that we've been focusing on here at the school is looking at the diversity of our staff and the diversity within our recruitment processes.”
Will Cullen
Head of HR at King’s House
“A couple of the applicants actually came to us and said...that it was only because we were advertising that they applied and they haven't applied to other jobs locally.”
Ian Yapp
Principal at King James’s School
“I came to Gaia to learn new strategies and to sort of get ahead of the game so I can boost up what teachers we're getting in right now.”
Abbie Wheeler
Head’s PA at The Mulberry School

Meet the

team