What were your aims back in 2004 when you started World First?

"Nick [Robinson] and I started the business in 2004 from a basement flat in Stockwell, South London. We'd both previously worked for banks in the City and felt that the internet and availability of electronic pricing, provided an opportunity to take the products, service and pricing that the big banks reserved for big businesses and give them to smaller businesses. I can still remember making our first ever trade, not really believing that our first customer was relying on us to get it to France. But I also remember feeling a strong sense that I knew we could do it quicker and cheaper, and also feeling a huge sense of responsibility to do the best that we could for our client. That sense of responsibility is something that we instil in everyone who walks through the door at World First."

How has business developed over 12 years of trading?

"The business is almost unrecognisable from 12 years ago. We're over 400 people spread across five international offices and we're now able to offer much more sophisticated products and move much faster than ever before. In that time we've transferred £36.5bn for over 110,000 clients. There's also greater interest in the industry now since it was identified as part of the ‘FinTech' revolution that's driving innovation through disruption. That spotlight on the industry creates more competition which in turn sparks innovation - so that's a good thing. The one thing that hasn't changed; we still believe passionately in the merits of really excellent customer service. We'll never give that up."

How did you manage to get a former deputy head of the Bank of England to join your company?

"We were beginning to think we should have an independent director. We came across a newspaper article on the most influential people in the City and went through marking anyone we had any connection to. We found out that Sir David Clementi's  daughter occasionally played tennis with Nick's sister so we wrote him a letter using that as our way in. We were very surprised but delighted when he responded and over a couple of meetings we managed to convince him that World First was the sort of business that he might want to be involved in. He came on board as an advisor at first and later became chairman. We're very lucky to have someone with his experience to call on."

In what circumstances would a client approach World First?

"In short, we can help anyone who has a need to transfer money across international borders. The circumstances are usually that the client is frustrated with the rates, service or hedging products they're currently receiving. For example, that could be someone buying a property in Spain or Italy, or a business paying a supplier in Asia. With our ecommerce clients, it may be that we can help them sell in new countries and we help repatriate their funds back to them. We help tens of thousands of online sellers do that. Whilst the nuts and bolts are about money transfer, the impact is that we help someone with what can be an expensive, complicated and time-consuming process. So we hopefully make it a bit easier to buy that place in the sun, help the business achieve efficiencies by importing from overseas, or help an online seller expand by finding a new audience for their products, by selling on global marketplaces."

Why World First and not a bank?

"Most banks are generalists meaning that they are quite good at lots of things. It also means that they struggle to compete with specialists, like World First, on specific service areas like international payments. They're just not set up to offer the individual rates, products or dedicated customer service that
we do and the evidence of that is in our high satisfaction ratings (98% positive feedback) and high retention rates.

"The uncertainty around the outcome of the EU referendum is quite a good example of what we do. This uncertainty has hindered SMEs' ability to plan ahead and budget during a time when the pound is more volatile than we would typically expect. Any business trading internationally that leaves itself open to rapidly fluctuating markets at a time like this is taking a risk and we can help them to manage that risk in a calculated way that is good for their business. We have many thousands of
SME clients who say they don't get that from their banks."

Are you regulated and is World First exposed to the volatility of currency movements?

"Any business that operates internationally is exposed to movements in currency markets, and these can be some of the fastest-moving in the world. Aside from wanting to access great rates, one of the main reasons that businesses and individuals use World First is to help them find a way to manage currency market volatility. As a business, we are authorised and regulated by the FCA to deal and sell structured currency products and options to help businesses create a strategy to deal with currency market volatility. We're also regulated in the US, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and all of Europe.

When did you first decide that the World First business model might work internationally and has expansion from these shores been smooth?

"I think we knew early on that there was the potential for international expansion. We started the business three years before the first iPhone was launched but even back then we could see that the internet was having a profound impact on the speed of globalisation and the rate at which businesses and people were taking a more global outlook. The widespread access to the internet made it possible to search for a property in Spain or find a supplier in Asia, in a way that wasn't possible before.

We opened the Sydney office in 2009 and offices in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore have followed. We've tried to identify trends that support the need for our services and followed those. The expansion of ecommerce in Asia, particularly China, is one such example. We definitely haven't got everything right but
I believe that you learn by doing and that if you're 70% sure, then you should go for it. We've fortunately got more right than we have wrong!"

The company has won a shedload of awards, what would be the one you are most proud of?

"There are two that stand out for me; firstly the Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade. We've won the award twice now, back in 2009 but also again this year. I think it's the UK's highest honour for international business success and recognises our innovation in cross border currency transfers and our role in facilitating international trade for UK SMEs, including online marketplace traders. Nick and I will be going to Buckingham Palace this summer to collect the award. The other was the European Business Award for Customer Service, which we won in 2014 from a very large pool of entrants"

How is the future looking for World First?

"I'm as excited as I've ever been about the future. Last year was our fastest growth rate since we were a much smaller business and we're continuing to grow quickly this year.
We're just about to launch a new service in Japan to help international sellers access one of the fastest growing ecommerce markets in the world and we'll launch in the Netherlands and Spain this summer too. There are countless other markets that our international development team are looking at and our product development team are looking at some equally exciting developments too, to make sure we offer a more comprehensive service meeting the wider needs of SMEs. When we look around, we see lots and lots of opportunities to do things first or do things better."

For more information visit World First