People’s Champion finalist 2018: Issoria

Start-up name: Issoria
Founder: Ibi Thomson
Started in: 2016
Based in: London
Business description: Change management consultancy working with high-profile customers

Shortlisted category:

Export Business of the Year

The Issoria story:

With an impressive list of global customers, Issoria connects over 6,000 independent consultants worldwide to brands in need of trusted advice.

Since launching in 2016, Issoria has achieved 100% year-on-year financial growth alongside rapid export growth; now providing its services to over 30 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe and The Americas.

Clients include Jaguar Land Rover, Nestle, G4S, and Thermo Fisher Scientific and these are brands which Issoria has worked closely with to develop value propositions focused on what the brands want and need.

Founder Ibi Thomson says the business’ early ascent has been due to its unique approach in providing the scale of a major consulting firm, while retaining the speed, agility and low-cost base of a small enterprise.

With a core team of just four people (pictured), Issoria has quickly positioned itself as a global player. In fact, with its client base full to the brim of reputable international brands, 76% of the company’s total revenue now comes from outside of the UK.

Yet export growth has not been without its challenges; Thomson explains that a lot of Issoria’s projects come from exporting to countries “that are not easy to do business with if you only have a UK entity” such as China, Costa Rica, Mexico and Singapore.

To tackle this, Thomson and his team have committed a lot of time and effort to ensuring Issoria complies to necessary local tax regulations in these countries – remaining determined to represent “the best of British start-ups on the world stage”.

Thomson is also keen to see that Issoria’s growth provides community benefit.

In 2017, he launched a partnership with the Carney’s Community; a charity working to get young people off the streets and away from a life of crime and poverty. Through the partnership, Issoria now mentors young entrepreneurs and donates 1% of its total profits to the cause.

Why Issoria made our shortlist:

With just two years trading history, it’s incredible that Issoria has managed to secure multiple high-profile customers from across the world, all while competing with incumbents who are much more established and often multi-billion in size.

Founder Thomson tell us that Issoria is “rapidly on its way to disrupting the change management consulting industry” and we believe him.

Where to find out more about Issoria:

Website: issoriachange.com
Twitter: @_Issoria