Promethean Particles is a University of Nottingham spin-out developing continuous manufacturing technology for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) — advanced materials with applications in carbon capture, biogas upgrading, atmospheric water harvesting, and gas storage and separation.
The business had evolved from a research-led organisation into a commercially focused company under new CEO leadership. Following an £8m Series A, Promethean entered a critical stage of growth.
At the time, they employed 13 people.
🎯 The plan: double in size within 18 months — building capability across scientific, manufacturing, operational and commercial functions at once, while still developing the technology, serving customers, and executing an ambitious commercial roadmap.
That's not a hiring challenge. That's a company-building challenge.
Before working with Cohort, hiring had been handled through recruitment agencies — inconsistent results, high cost, and no internal hiring capability to run a programme of this scale.
🌳 Cohort partnered with Promethean through the Growth model — taking end-to-end operational ownership of hiring across the entire scale-up, and building the systems, processes and infrastructure to sustain it.
The price was agreed up front, and we were paid for results.
The programme spanned: