What's the background
to Xero in general and also specific
to the UK?
Xero can trace its roots back to 2006 when browser-based software first started to emerge as a viable alternative to PC software, and the attraction that presented as a means of delivering affordable accounting tools to micro and small businesses, cost effectively. We launched our UK version of Xero in 2008 and established our UK business shortly after that.
Are any of the founders still involved on a day to day basis?
Our founder and CEO, our founding software engineer and head of design were the first three employees and all are still actively involved in the day to day operations of the business. I was the first UK-based director back in 2009 and I'm still actively involved in the UK business today.
How did you get involved with Xero?
I'd been in and around UK small business tech and specifically accounting software for around twenty years and built up a lot of experience and understanding of the industry, first at Pegasus and then Microsoft. So, when Xero was just a start-up in the UK, it was a great match of my talents and experience and Xero's desire to grow and innovate that brought us together. My first UK team comprised three people and shortly we'll surpass 100 UK staff, so it's been quite a ride so far.
What is your target market?
Micro and small businesses, of which there are around five million in the UK. And alongside those, the accounting firms and bookkeepers that work with and advise those business categories which is a community of around 30,000.
Why would a new business come to Xero?
Lots of people find us online or through word of mouth or social media. They'll set up a trial through our website and after playing around for a while decide to become a paying customer. Otherwise, many businesses have Xero recommended to them by their accountants and bookkeepers.
What does Xero offer UK SMEs?
Xero is a full accounting and bookkeeping package that
accommodates pretty much everything an SME would need.
But we focus on making it easy for the small business owner to get stuff done
in a way that's simple and fun, taking the chore aspect out of what can be quite
a tedious responsibility.
Xero recently won a very prestigious Forbes award for global excellence - why was that?
We were blown away when Forbes recently announced us as the world's most innovative growth company which is a measure of how quickly we are growing: we have over 300,000 customers worldwide now and our vision and market expectations for small businesses is that they will increasingly embrace new technology products like Xero. We were all very humbled by that ranking.
How big is the Xero global footprint?
With over 300,000 customers and more than 800 staff globally in 14 different locations around the world, we're now the biggest and fastest growing cloud accounting vendor.
As a company, how do you interact with accountants?
Recent research by OnePoll showed that just over a third of the UK's 20,000 accounting firms were using cloud software like Xero to collaborate with and service their clients. So our job is to not only build the tools to help practices do that, but to educate and guide thousands of accounting firms (and their clients) who are still on their journey to the cloud. We provide education, training and events to financial advisers, enabling them to support their small business clients to get the most from their expertise and experience.
What advice can you offer a small business before and after signing up with Xero?
Before signing up to Xero
Sign up to a 30-day free trial. This will give you access to all Xero's features, enabling you to get a feel for how everything works.
After signing up with Xero
Take full advantage of all the free education and training
resources available for small businesses in the Xero U resource. For example,
if you're interested in getting up and running and making the most from Xero's
new features, there is a ‘Train me on Xero' live online demo available.
www.xero.com/uk/training/small-businesses
What support resources are available?
As well as the Xero U education and training on offer, we
are always launching new small business guides which provide tips, tricks and
accounting essentials for business success. Check out: www.xero.com/uk/small-business-guides
What do the next five years hold for Xero UK ?
The amazing passion for Xero in the UK has already elevated us to the position of the UK's number one cloud accounting system. That's given us real confidence in that if we keep delighting our customers and keep our focus on innovation; we have a shot at being the UK's overall number one accounting system one day - not just in the cloud - overtaking the old guard desktop brands such as Intuit and Sage in the process. That sounds like an audacious goal and one that we'll have a lot of fun having a crack at in the next five years.
Is everything awesome in the world of Xero?
Passion is something that all our staff and many of our customers have for Xero and the effect it has on our customers' businesses. It's both fun and incredibly humbling to hear from our customers how positively we're impacting and helping them run their businesses, and it's hard not to let the awesomeness of that bubble up. I'd guess that most people here would say "Yes! Everything is awesome in the world of Xero!" and it's my job to keep it that way.
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