43. Centtrip

Founders: Brian Jamieson and Tony North
Founded: May 2014 (launched January 2015)
Website: https://centtrip.com

From the ashes of the financial crisis, the financial technology industry has risen, with many UK start-ups springing up in recent years offering consumers an alternative to tired, traditional services. Centtrip is one of a number of prime examples on this list – a Shoreditch-based fintech start-up, disrupting the foreign exchange market in a big way.

Founded by Brian Jamieson and Tony North, the company provides a pre-paid MasterCard, offering 14 currencies with direct access to the interbank rate to avoid markups, commissions and spreads. Targeted at high-net-worth individuals travelling or buying property abroad, the service can be managed online through the multi-currency account and platform – with Centtrip simply charging one upfront annual fee.

The two founders previously enjoyed success with their company Schneider Foreign Exchange, where they achieved an annual turnover of $15 billion, were ranked by Bloomberg as one of the world’s foremost forecasters of currency and sold for $100m in 2012. Centtrip is a continuation of North and Jamieson’s journey to redefine the international currency payments arena.

After being selected as one of our top new businesses of 2014, and taking home Tech Business of the Year at the Startups Awards, we’re expecting even bigger things from the fresh faced tech firm in 2015.