Company details

HEADCOUNT

1-24

ORG TYPE

Startup

SECTOR

Impact and NGOs

WEBSITE

https://www.lightningreach.org

About the company

Lightning Reach runs a UK support portal that helps people find and apply for financial help in one place, including grants, benefits, and help with bills. The platform also sells a partner product to councils, charities, and responsible businesses, using tools like open banking and ID verification to speed up eligibility checks and admin. Lightning Reach was founded during the pandemic and positions the work around the cost of living crisis. The company operates as a tech-for-good startup with a fully remote team.

Locations and presence

Lightning Reach lists London as headquarters, with a registered address in West Sussex. Roles are advertised as remote within the UK, and the careers page describes the team as spread across the UK.

Palpable Score

54.5

/ 100

Lightning Reach is accessible when a junior-friendly operations role is live, and the company helps candidates by publishing a salary range plus remote working and benefits. The overall score stays moderate because there is limited evidence of repeat early-career hiring and very little public information on junior progression, retention, or candidate experience consistency.

Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

9.7

/ 20

The company currently lists one role, Support and Operations Associate, which reads as a potential first or second job in operations and customer support.
Lightning Reach frames the role as a chance to build a broad skillset across support, comms, and operations, rather than a narrow specialist track.
The company has very limited visible volume of 0–3 year roles at any one time, which caps entry-level access.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

11.8

/ 20

The company publishes a clear salary range (£25–30k) and states Remote (UK) as the working setup for the Support and Operations Associate role.
Lightning Reach writes the role scope in practical terms, including day-to-day support responsibilities, ownership of support processes, and maintaining a knowledge base.
The company does not publish a standard hiring flow, timelines, or what to expect after applying, so transparency depends on individual follow-up.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

12.5

/ 20

The company lists a learning budget as a core benefit, which is a concrete early-career support lever in a small startup.
Lightning Reach describes regular video stand-ups and “temp checks” to keep the team aligned as a remote company, which can reduce isolation for new starters.
The company positions the associate role as working closely with a Business Operations Manager, but public materials do not spell out onboarding structure, mentoring cadence, or review cycles.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

13.0

/ 20

The company publishes a salary range for the associate role, which improves pay transparency for early-career applicants.
Lightning Reach lists share options, an equipment budget, and volunteer days, which are meaningful extras for a very small team.
The company does not publicly list the wider benefits you often see in fintech-style operations roles (for example healthcare or pension detail), which limits confidence on overall package competitiveness.

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

7.5

/ 20

The company does not publish early-career progression stories, promotion timelines, or retention metrics, so outcomes are hard to verify.
Lightning Reach shares impact results like reaching over 280,000 people and facilitating over £25m in funding, but public materials do not connect this to team growth or junior development outcomes.
The company’s LinkedIn footprint shows a very small headcount band, which limits observable junior-to-mid progression patterns.