The Key Group that includes Arbor has been acquired.
We were aware of ongoing conversations, but yesterday we received the following two Press releases.
CBPE is pleased to announce it has realised its investment in The Key Group, a market leading education software provider, to Permira.
CBPE partnered with the management team in a primary buyout in December 2020, helping to fund the strategic investment into Arbor.
Through their partnership with CBPE, The Key Group has added new service offerings for schools, broadening its product suite and creating market-leading AI capabilities. Over 20,000 schools now use the Group’s products.
CBPE has been a fantastic partner to The Key Group and to us as a leadership team over the last five years. They have focused on helping us deliver our long-term strategic vision, ultimately enabling us to significantly scale the positive impact we can have on schools.
Chris Kenyon, CEO – The Key Group
It has been wonderful to work with Chris, James and the rest of The Key Group team over the last five years. Through their efforts, the business has been transformed during that period. Their drive to improve outcomes for the school sector is inspiring and we wish them every success on the next stage of their journey.
Jason Khaksar, Partner CBPE
- The Key Group, home to leading EdTech brands including Arbor, The Key, and SAMpeople, is partnering with Permira for the next stage of their journey
- Permira will join The Key Group’s board to help them deliver on their plans to further embed AI and innovation throughout their product suite, saving schools even more time and improving student insight
- The Key Group remains committed to being the best home for UK EdTech founders looking to scale their impact in schools
11th November 2025:
The Key Group, provider of market-leading education software including Arbor and The Key, is partnering with Permira to accelerate their mission to transform the way schools work.
The Key Group is home to seven leading products for schools: Arbor, SAMpeople, TimeTabler, Habitude, The Key, GovernorHub, and Robin. Together, The Key Group’s products have helped over 20,000 schools move away from legacy systems, paper-based processes, and reactive governance to entirely new ways of working – focused on saving staff at all levels significant time and effort.
In this next chapter, The Key Group intends to invest even more into helping schools tackle ongoing workload challenges, shrinking budgets, and staff retention. Working with Permira will enable the group to double investment in R&D over the next few years, with a clear focus on using AI to create magical product experiences which save staff time and improve student insight. The Key Group will also remain committed to being the best home for UK EdTech founders looking to grow their impact in schools within a culture that celebrates innovation.
Permira will join The Key Group’s board, replacing CBPE. The existing management team at The Key Group – led by Chris Kenyon and James Weatherill – are staying, and are committed to delivering on the group’s vision to deliver software which makes a measurable difference to schools. There will be no change to the software or support schools using The Key Group know and love.
Chris Kenyon, CEO at The Key Group, said: “We are incredibly excited to welcome Permira to The Key Group. Their decision to back us is a powerful validation of our mission and our approach. They believe in our mission to transform schools, and bring deep expertise in product innovation alongside a proven track record of helping similar organisations scale their impact.
We know they will be an invaluable partner as we accelerate our plans to continue providing outstanding value and indispensable support to schools across the UK. I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you to CBPE for being such a mission-aligned partner over the last five years.”
James Weatherill, Co-Founder and CEO at Arbor, said: “Our mission to transform the way schools work for the better has never been more important. Schools are under huge pressure to do more with less, staff are overwhelmed with admin and high workloads, and AI is completely changing the way students learn. We are at the forefront of ensuring this transformation is beneficial, and I am incredibly excited about partnering with Permira on the next stage of our journey. Together, we can do so much more, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Michail Zekkos, Partner and Co-Head of Technology, and Pierre Pozzo, Partner at Permira, said: “The Key Group’s mission to serve schools across the UK and make a meaningful difference to the way they operate through technology highly overlaps with the core tenets of our culture. Alongside Chris, James and the management team, we look forward to serving this mission, investing behind the company’s product leadership, deepening its AI capabilities, and providing schools with the technology they need to deliver measurable outcomes for students as the education sector continues to evolve.”
Jason Khaksar, Partner at CBPE, said: “It has been wonderful to work with Chris, James and the rest of The Key Group team over the last five years. Through their efforts, the business has been transformed during that period. Their drive to improve outcomes for the school sector is inspiring and we wish them every success on the next stage of their journey.”
ENDS
About The Key Group
From our respective origins as a bunch of ambitious, experimental start-ups, each using technology to innovate and improve the way schools work, we have grown into a group of companies that serve over 20,000 schools between us. Working together as The Key Group, our mission is to support a sector where all schools thrive.
We are united by a shared belief that schools deserve best-in-class tools and content for the hugely important job they do.
We invest in great teams and empower them to build remarkable products, finding and accelerating ideas that can impact all schools. Our businesses succeed by caring about their customers, listening carefully, and solving meaningful problems.