An app to tackle the UK’s late payment epidemic
Research has shown that UK small and medium businesses are owed as much as £50bn in late payments at any one time, with the situation only likely to get worse in the current climate. In response to this late payment epidemic, today sees the launch of itsettled, an automated, proven and legally compliant process for SME’s to chase their outstanding invoices.
Led by credit industry veteran Glen Morgan, who has recently acted as an advisor to the UK government’s Parliamentary Review and Leadership council on late payment, itsettled has an ambitious vision to help over 30,000 businesses in the next five years – that’s as many as faced insolvency last year. Small and medium sized businesses will gain access to a process which has recovered £350m in the last 11 years for Credebt, a receivables management and risk specialist for the invoice finance and insolvency industries and the sister company of itsettled.
“We want to ensure that every business in the UK has the tools to chase their debts and get paid on time, whilst maintaining a positive relationship with their valued customers,” said Glen Morgan, co-founder and CEO. “It’s absolutely shameful that small and medium businesses, who make up over 90% of all businesses and represent three fifths of the employment in the UK private sector, are failing because they’re not getting paid for work they have completed. This has to stop, and we’re ready for the challenge.”
itsettled allows SMEs to automatically collect payment on invoices, making the process professional, quick and stress-free. It’s an ideal solution for businesses that need a credit controller, for a fraction of the price of employing someone. Businesses have the choice of three packages based on their needs, hosted on an intuitive dashboard and including all compliant emails, letters and call scripts needed to run an effective credit control process. There’s also the option to have itsettled manage the posting of all letters, reducing a potential barrier for time poor businesses and their owners.
itsettled has been supported in the build up to its launch by NatWest, after securing a place in the bank’s highly sought-after Entrepreneur Accelerator programme. Part of the cohort based in Bristol as well as the national fintech cohort, itsettled has benefitted from business advice and mentoring, bespoke coaching, and access to the bank’s networks and supply chains. Fully funded by NatWest, participants do not have to be a customer with the bank to take part in the initial six-month programme or give-up any equity in their business.
Andy Jackson, entrepreneur acceleration manager at NatWest’s Bristol accelerator said: “It’s always exciting to see the businesses that we’ve helped take the next step on their journey. We’re lucky in Bristol to have businesses like itsettled who are emerging with a vision to change the business landscape in the UK, and look forward to seeing them continue to thrive. We’re excited about the prospect of supporting more start-up and scale-up businesses when our next intake begins on the accelerator programme in Bristol.”