Jim O’Brien, Co-Founder of The Change Group

Over the past 13 years The Change Group have built a reputation as London’s go-to luxury hospitality recruiters. The next step for Co-Founder Jim O’Brien was to find a way to fund the Group’s ambitious growth plans. Having borrowed money from his bank in the past, he was keen to avoid their painful and time-consuming borrowing process, and approached iwoca in hope of finding an alternative.

“We wanted to get things sorted fast, which is why we didn’t bother approaching the bank. I applied for a £150,000 credit facility with iwoca and they made the funds available in just a few days,” Jim explained. Being able to draw down funds online, as and when he needed, gave Jim instant access to the cash to invest in innovative technology, which he believes could hold the key to The Group’s global expansion.

“iwoca’s ease and speed has helped us move fast and upgrade our technology to improve the service we provide, which could prove to be the catalyst for sustainable global expansion.”

Jim is developing a state of the art mobile app with the funds. It allows The Change Group to notify candidates of roles immediately, streamlining the recruitment process in the fast moving world of hospitality. Jim believes this will give his company the edge, driving the revenue that will be crucial to expanding into global food hubs.

Following the success of The Change Group’s Hong Kong office opening last year, Jim has plans to set up in other cities renowned for first rate hospitality services. In the next 18 months alone, he aims to grow into New York and Melbourne as he focuses on increasing his £10m annual turnover. With his app now nearing completion, Jim is confident about adding to his world class portfolio of clients, which already includes the likes of Michelin Starred chefs, Jason Atherton and Tom Aiken.