Pathway Group
Pathway Group
Pathway Group is a leading skills provider with a vision of changing lives through skills and work.
We have been operating since the year 2000 supporting individuals in upskilling and reskilling, working with numerous government departments, entities and funding streams.
We’re on a mission to prepare and connect underrepresented talent to employers and support workplaces that promote diversity.
We generally have an ethos of partnership work and open networking and are interested to hear from employers, other training providers, employment support and funding bodies directly.
Our Vision | Our Mission |
Changing Lives though Skills and Work | Enhancing knowledge, Developing Skills and Changing Behaviors to Transform Communities |
The Pathway Group aspires to be an organisation that Changes Lives Through Skills and Work with the aim of becoming an indispensable partner of choice. To achieve this, a whole organisational approach to engagement is essential. It is important that all staff work together to create a positive, entrepreneurial culture which is responsive to the needs of the local, regional and national economy. | |
The Pathway Brand Story
Having been operating since 2000, we have not always been known as Pathway Group, many have asked how we have evolved and we believe the story of our name over the period of time helps partly to answer that and is shown as below:
2000-2003
2003-2005
2005-2010
2011
2011-2012
2012-2017
2017-2018
2018-Present
The backstory with some selected pictures.
January 2000 at the birth of a new centre. Hamait Ali (left) Waheed Azam (centre) Safaraz Ali ( right)
In 2008 – Safaraz Ali working on Pathway Group full-time now
In January 2009 – Safaraz Ali signing up learners for Train to Gain NVQ Programmes in Health and Social Care
In 2014 – a transition is taking place in the landscape of skills and employability and Safaraz addressing his team of 96 staff members.
Fast forward 2023… some snaps from our annual general meeting….
How we like to do things at Pathway Group?
Firstly, we don’t just talk about values—we aspire to live them.
Our mission—Changing Lives Through Skills and Work—is not just a slogan. It’s a promise. A promise that drives every programme we deliver, every learner we support, and every employer we engage with.
At the heart of it we are a values-led, impact-driven organisation. Everything we do is anchored in trust, inclusion, collaboration, and excellence. Whether we’re delivering bootcamps for future tech talent, supporting care workers to progress into management, or helping long-term unemployed individuals re-enter the workforce—our work is about dignity, opportunity, and transformation.
We see ourselves as more than just a provider. We are a partner, a connector, and a catalyst for progress.
For 24 years, we’ve delivered for:
- Local authorities
- Combined authorities
- National government departments
- SMEs and national employers
- Hard-to-reach communities
- And most importantly, thousands of individuals at turning points in their lives
We’ve proven that we are an organisation that stays close to its communities and attempts as best it can to adapt to the evolving skills landscape, it becomes more than just a training provider—it becomes an asset to the sector and to the region it operates.
The challenges we face today—economic inactivity, labour shortages, low productivity—aren’t just policy related issues. They’re people related issues. And our sector must be brave enough, bold enough, and connected enough to solve them.
At Pathway Group, we stand ready. We’ve done much—but we have much more to do.
Because we believe that when you invest in people, when you believe in potential, and when you build with purpose, you don’t just change lives—you change the wider community for the better.
Q&A: Chris Walker, MD of Expressive Design in Conversation: Safaraz Ali, Co-Founder & CEO of Pathway Group
Chris W: Safaraz, you’ve been in this sector for over two decades. What have been the challenges, the lost opportunities when you look back?
Safaraz Ali:
If I was start with a glass half empty mindset and I speak about the sector as a whole as opposed to just us then I would say the missed opportunities and the untapped potential. We’ve had some brilliant impactful funding policies in their day such as —Train to Gain, for instance, some might disagree, but I do believe this was genuinely impactful. It focused on upskilling people in work, particularly those with low or no qualifications. That was a game-changer.
The New Deal, version 1 and 2, had good intentions but often lacked alignment with real employer demand. Too much was focused on ticking boxes rather than creating real change.
The biggest thing is we need to connect, work together, DWP and Skills, when skills and employment are siloed, the system underdelivers. The best outcomes happen when learning is linked to progression, to productivity, and to purpose.
Chris W: So, moving with that theme what’s the biggest challenge facing the employability and skills sector in your view?
Safaraz Ali:
One word: fragmentation. The funding landscape is complex, and some may even say messy. We’ve got devolved Adult Education Budgets (AEB), bootcamps, Restart, National Careers Service, ESF legacy, and UKSPF—and often they don’t always talk to each other.
Devolution should be a driver of innovation, but the reality is at times different – its uneven delivery. In some combined authority areas. Independent training providers—who are often the most agile and employer-connected—are being squeezed out in most cases. That’s not just bad for providers. It’s bad for learners, bad for employers, and bad for the economy.
And to be honest with you—the Independent Training Provider sector is under immense pressure. Rising compliance, cashflow issues due to slow payment models, shifting priorities… and all of this while still being expected to deliver exceptional outcomes.
Chris W: What does a “good” future look like?
Safaraz Ali:
Good looks like clarity, simplicity, and collaboration. It should skills funding that is outcomes-driven, not activity-led. We need better recognition and inclusion of ITPs as delivery partners, not just afterthoughts.
We need to rebuild trust in the sector. That means ensuring funding follows the learner and the employer—not political cycles. It also means we must place more value on skills for progression, not just entry-level activity. That includes wraparound support, mentoring, and progression pathways.
And we can’t ignore the wider context—skills gaps are stalling productivity. We have people out of work while employers can’t fill roles in care, logistics, construction, tech. That’s an economic contradiction we can’t afford.
Chris W:What’s the role of Pathway Group in all this?
Safaraz Ali:
Pathway Group inshallah will remain to connect people to purpose. Whether it’s a young person starting their first job, or someone mid-career looking to retrain, we aim to provide the skills, guidance, and support to make it happen.
We’re also proud to represent what the future of provision should look like:
- Inclusive, employer-led, and learner-centred
- Delivering in urban and underserved communities
- Offering career pathways, not just short-term fixes
We’ve supported thousands of learners, worked across every major funding stream, and maintained a deep connection to place, people, and purpose.
Chris W:Safaraz, finally any message to the wider skills and employability sector?
Safaraz Ali:
Safaraz:
Let’s stop managing decline and start designing for impact.
Let’s stop talking in acronyms and start speaking the language of skills, careers, and community.
And let’s build a system that works for the people it’s meant to serve. Because when we get skills right, everything else follows employment, inclusion, productivity, growth.
This feels like a moment of reset. Let’s not waste it.
