Zest has been announced as one of the 2023 Wired Trailblazers – a collection of forward-thinking and fast-growth scale-ups recognised as “pushing boundaries and solving the social, economic and environmental issues of our time”.  

Set up in 2022 by WIRED Consulting and HSBC UK, the Wired Trailblazers programme was established to identify and bring together organisations that are delivering positive outcomes for people and the planet. These scale-ups are tackling issues such as climate change, cyber security and access to healthcare while creating employment opportunities and stimulating local economies. The newly updated Scale-Up Knowledge Hub offers further information on each of the Trailblazers and provides practical advice for scale-ups looking to grow, including “how to build a more sustainable business” and “how to think like a Wired trailblazer”.

Following the 75 businesses recognised in the first year, now a further 90 have been selected to join this community. This year Zest’s home county Yorkshire was identified as one of the UK’s innovation hotspots. Owing to its working population of 1.9 million, and expertise in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and data, the talent pool in Greater Leeds has been praised as a “wellspring for scale-ups" and it is predicted to become the fastest-growing city in the North for job creation by the end of 2023.

Speaking to Wired, Zest CEO Robin Heap said: “The level of talent is incredible here. There are enough like-minded people who want to make a material difference to society, sustainability, and the environment that we as an organisation can attract and retain.”
2023 WIRED Trailblazers from Yorkshire

Zest has employed around 20 former Leeds University students and continues to look to the strong pool in Leeds as the company expands. Growing to over 110 employees within the first two years, Zest is always on the lookout for new talent to help us achieve our goals of making EV charging accessible to all.

See our careers page to find out more about our current vacancies.  

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