Focus on : WillU FX

Say hello to new sponsors WillU FX, a company we’ve personally used, whose aim is to save you money on foreign transactions, whether it be business, booking a hotel or buying a car. We caught up with Commercial Partnerships Director, Jamie Reid, to find out more.

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO?

WillU FX provides currency payment solutions to private individuals, SMEs and large global businesses. We specialize in working with high and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, manufacturing industries and are also heavily involved the world of motorsport through our connections and our founders’ backgrounds in professional motorsport internationally. The FX part of the business came about through demand from the investments side of the business really. A number of our clients were looking at moving funds either for business reasons or for personal investments such as buying or selling properties overseas. So, rather than us passing the business onto a third party, we decided it would make sense to open up the WillU FX business in its own right so we could service our customers directly and maintain that one-to-one relationship we have with them. Keeping it all in-house means we can ensure our very high standards of service are maintained. In addition to these services, we provide a range of benefits to our private and corporate clients, and aim to drive business to them via our platform and through word of mouth networking. WillU World can provide rewards to the employees of our clients, with benefits and rewards on over 200 brands, mental health support, physical support via our free yoga, breathing workshops, running clubs and nutritionists.

HOW HAS THE BUSINESS EVOLVED SINCE?

WillU FX and the WillU Financial Group have doubled in size since last year. The business has actually grown through the pandemic as more people have become savvier with their money. When you’ve got Brexit and a global pandemic having their impact, especially on our clients still trading internationally, people want to work with companies they trust, so we’ve done well in that respect whilst retaining our customer first objective.

Since I joined the company in September of last year, I’ve been very much focused on dealing with the automotive and motorsport direction of the business. We’re now working with more motorsport-related companies, teams, manufacturers, drivers and so on, as well as with individuals like those within the membership who own higher value vehicles, have sizeable car collections or those looking at building up a collection.

WHY USE YOU OVER BANKS?

WillU FX pride ourselves on the speed and simplicity of our payment service, topped off by the competitiveness of our exchange rates. You’ll never be charged a transaction or payment fee when using WillU FX, which I am sure everybody knows is not the case when using a bank. So, if you own a business that’s doing let’s say a hundred overseas transactions per year at £25 a pop, all of a sudden we’ve saved you £2,500 in unnecessary costs straight away. When you add that to the savings we can provide on the currency exchange, this becomes tens of thousands. Using the example of an member who might be looking at purchasing a car. Let’s say they’re purchasing a car that’s being sold in Euros in mainland Europe. They would come to us and say they want to buy this car, whether it’s a one-time payment or placing a deposit, whatever it may be, we will work out for them what the rate would be through us, we can provide rapid payment from their account into the beneficiary’s, be it a private individual or a business, and it’s a very simple, quick and easy process. We just require a few bits of personal information to open an account for them, and the WillU FX account would be in their name. Then, whenever they want to move the money, we would tell them the rate at that time and move the money for them. As for a business like , if a tour is being organised where you need to book out 100 hotel rooms in Monaco, for example, the rate you’d be paying through the bank would be massively high. We could instantly provide you a saving on that, but more importantly, if there was a deposit payment made in one month, and a balance payment due two months later, the markets can move a lot in that time period. So, we can put in place solutions that allow for budgeting to be done more effectively by locking in a rate, so the client knows exactly how much that will cost, irrespective of what the market does. The main thing for us going forward is to continue to grow our network through referrals and through our reputation that we are already gaining in this marketplace, and to maintain that personal, one-to-one service. If all methods of moving money were equal in terms of cost, whether it be a third-party foreign exchange company like ourselves or a bank, which company would you rather work with, the one that understands what’s driving you, your business and your passions or the faceless organisation that frankly doesn’t care if you’re buying plastic chairs from china or a new Bugatti?

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH

I’ve personally been aware of for a couple of years. I’m unfortunately not a member myself, although I would very much like to be at some point soon! The community of interesting people, incredible cars and the events run really do tick just about every box. Our core demographics are, generally speaking, high to ultra-high-networth individuals who operate businesses here in the UK and might trade internationally, so that is perfectly aligned with Supercar Driver’s members and their businesses.

All of us at WillU FX are car nuts, be it those with an interest in the classics or more contemporary supercars. Motorsport runs through our veins because one of our founders is a former Formula 1 driver and current European Le Mans Series driver, and another was a very successful singleseater driver as well. We’re very much a passion-led business, so seeing what Supercar Driver has done over the last 10 years meant it was a no-brainer for us to get involved, because we can help you save money with the costs of running events, but also we can provide genuine value to the group of individuals and companies who make up the membership and sponsors. We want to experience the events, get amongst it, see the cars, meet the owners and the other companies involved. Our team is spread out geographically, so there’s a chance we might get to some local events and drives, but as for the major events, we’ll be going to the season opener, Grantley Hall, obviously the secret meet and the season closer. We’ll be trying to get out to as many events as we can this year so we can meet all of you face-to-face. We’re really looking forward to working with the team, because whenever we’ve spoken with your members and the other businesses associated with , they’ve all said that working with you guys has been absolutely fantastic since day one. It’s been a mega relationship from the very start as far as opportunities to speak to new people, it’s an exciting group that always puts the members first, and if we can add an extra value to the members, then that’s great. To any member that has private or commercial matters involving foreign currencies, feel free to get on touch for a chat. @willu_fx

willufx.co.uk