“Company Check is an essential part of our business strategy”
Online retailer The Paperbox has used Company Check to help it achieve financially sustainable, double-digit growth in turnover every year since 2013.
By using the full range of tools, reports and alerts that are available to Pro account subscribers, the Yorkshire-based wedding stationery supplier is able to operate completely debt-free with suppliers and customers; using effective due diligence to build its business.
Financial prudence through features like company and director monitoring and checking for credit rating changes has not just helped the firm achieved an enviable credit score (80 out of 100 at the last count) - it’s also protected it from bad debtors time and again, as co-founder and operations director Ray Calland-Scoble explains.
“We supply retailers and wholesalers and buy from suppliers large and small, so it’s really important for us to check out who we’re working with. It’s also important that we do this regularly, because fortunes can change quickly.
“Company Check is an essential part of our business strategy. It gives us confidence in the companies we deal with, and in turn gives them and other prospective companies extra confidence in us. I use it at least twice a week and it plays a big part in the decisions we make. For example, it’s warned us on numerous occasions when other firms’ credit ratings have worsened, allowing us to take precautions to limit our exposure.
“The email alerts feature notifies me of any updates to the few dozen firms I’m following, while the director search function shows me which of the business owners I meet are just talking the talk, and which are really walking the walk.
“It plays a big part in the wider approach we take. Nothing leaves our premises, or enters them, without being paid for upfront. We don’t operate credit accounts, so we can be sure we’re working with people who do business like we do. Like finds like, and although our approach might be unusual, we don’t spend days chasing late payments and we certainly sleep a lot better at night!”
The Paperbox team has used the profits from its recent growth to build new headquarters, near York. The ecommerce business is on track to increase its turnover by a further 25% this year, growing its market share in the UK and Ireland.