When I enquire of Karen Barrett what she likes doing outside work, her answer is somewhat surprising: “I love knocking down walls.”

This, it turns out, is part of a wider interest in property renovation, but her response makes a change from ‘socialising with friends’ or ‘going to the cinema’. Then again, there’s a lot about Barrett that makes her stand out.

The founder and chief executive of Unbiased, the UK’s leading platform connecting people to financial advisers, oversees a business that works with more than 27,000 advisers and manages over £80bn in assets.

In the 15 years since its launch, it’s estimated that Unbiased has helped 10 million people access the right IFA, while also facilitating other crucial services such as mortgage brokerage and accountancy.

I had noticed that advisers were brilliant but often struggled to get their brand in front of the right customers

Pretty impressive for someone who started out with a team of just five and scant knowledge of how to run a business.

As she admits, “Google was definitely my friend in the early days, but you’ve just got to have a go.”

Getting started

As a child, Barrett was “quite good at a number of things”, but she never had a clear idea of what she wanted to pursue as a career.

Graduating from Newcastle University with a degree in economics and marketing, a natural flair for communication and creativity led to a job with Mortgage Express, then part of Lloyds TSB.

“I loved working there,” she claims. “They pioneered products such as buy-to-let, self-cert and buy-and-build mortgages.

“I set up their first internet connection in 1999, which was also my introduction to the internet. At that stage, it was all dial-up, waiting for ages to connect, but I realised you could put brochures, content and information online for people to consume — all quite revolutionary.”

I’d like to see targeted advice become more accessible, especially for those who aren’t served by the market

A move to Abbey National (now Santander) followed, and then onto IFA Promotion, where Barrett stayed for a decade, working her way up to become marketing director. It was this experience, she says, that gave her “a real understanding of the financial advice sector, and the consumer and professional pain points”.

Her experience in different-sized companies also convinced Barrett that she preferred smaller teams and a more autonomous environment.

“Now I run my own business, it’s interesting to see that the seeds were always there. When I was at Mortgage Express, there were only about 150 people and you were allowed to just go ahead and do things. I enjoyed the autonomy.”

A personal journey

However, it wasn’t just a desire for independence that spurred Barrett to set up Unbiased in 2009.

That same year, her second child was born with a heart condition, which led to the family spending several months in hospital.

It’s about generating value for employees and customers, and delivering on your promises

“It was only then I realised that I hadn’t made any financial plans for such an eventuality,” remembers Barrett.

“Despite advising others, I hadn’t taken my own planning to heart. And it made me realise that I needed an adviser who wasn’t just someone my parents had used.

“My son is fine now, but that experience gave me the push to go all in with Unbiased. Once you face something so personal, you think, ‘Why not? I’ll find another job if it doesn’t work out.’ It gave me the confidence to pursue it fully.”

Fulfilling a need

Barrett realised that, for both clients and advisers, there was a gap in the market that her new company could fill.

“Throughout my career, I had noticed that advisers were brilliant but often struggled to get their brand in front of the right customers. And, on the consumer side, people often didn’t realise they needed advice or assumed it wasn’t for them.

As we’ve grown and hired more senior people, having a laser focus on metrics has become crucial

“I recall a research group with these ladies aged 60–70. None of them had taken pension advice, despite having had good careers. They’d taken advice from people like their son’s friend, who was a bank manager, but not from a qualified adviser.

“That experience made it clear there was a place for Unbiased — connecting clients looking for the right adviser with advisers seeking a good, consistent flow of quality enquiries to help plan their business.”

Barrett’s previous roles had also taught her the importance of technology, when building Unbiased. From the start, the firm embraced data-led processes to make the adviser and client experience as efficient as possible.

“That’s where the Unbiased algorithm was born — learning from a few pieces of data to match people with the right adviser.

“Our platform has evolved from there to offer a full conversion tool that tracks client interactions, nudges customers and integrates with CRM systems, providing data insights about successful enquiries.”

We’re a marketplace business, so we have to keep the clients happy while also satisfying our paying customers: the advisers

Crucially, it’s the volume of traffic that has enabled the business to become more precise, creating different journeys for different advice needs. This, in turn, has driven growth — over the past few years, Unbiased has delivered around £20bn in assets under management to its adviser customers, 75% of which is new to the industry.

Learning on the job

For all her success, however, Barrett’s journey hasn’t been an easy one. She emphasises that “resilience is key” when starting and running a business.

“You have to dig deep and keep going. It’s not easy, especially when you’re trying to achieve a lot with limited resources.

“Our business now has about 90–95 people, with specialists in all sorts of fields, from PPC [pay-per-click] to SEO [search engine optimisation]. But, when you’re starting out, you face constant challenges with money, time and people.

I knew I wanted a good business with a strong brand, happy customers and a healthy environment

“Also, you don’t know what you don’t know, so you make decisions based on the data you have at the time, and later you look back and wonder, ‘What was I thinking?’

“You’ll always make mistakes, but hopefully you won’t make the same one twice.”

Although Barrett found herself, at the start, “looking up even the most basic things”, she took inspiration from those around her.

“Networks are really important,” she says. “In general, I’ve found the financial services industry to be a fantastic network of people who are happy to share their knowledge. You learn as you go.

“For example, I remember going on holiday and reading a book called Scaling Up by Verne Harnish. It feels overly structured and staid now, but it inspired me to think about how I could make what we had bigger and bring it to more people.”

I recall a research group with these ladies aged 60–70. None of them had taken pension advice, despite having had good careers

Unbiased raised funds in late 2019 and again in 2022 as the business grew and expanded to the US. This enabled Barrett to hire an experienced chief operating officer, and she describes having someone to bounce ideas off as “invaluable”.

“Initially, I was working alone, which suited me because I’m independent anyway — I don’t need to be constantly checking in with anyone. But it was a real benefit to find people who were happy to pay it forward and to give you a bit of time.”

Important lessons

Even with more support around her and a thriving company, Barrett faces challenges every day, some of which are inherent to Unbiased’s model.

“We’re a marketplace business, so we have to keep the clients happy while also satisfying our paying customers: the advisers,” she points out.

“There’s always a tension between the two. We spend a lot of our marketing budget targeting clients, but our revenue comes from another party entirely.

On the consumer side, people often didn’t realise they needed advice or assumed it wasn’t for them

“It’s all about finding the right balance.”

When I ask her to identify the most important factors in running a business, she highlights three things: people, numbers and usability.

“People first of all, because you can’t do it without people, and you certainly can’t do it alone. I have a team of seven with whom I work closely daily, and we have regular meetings to check in on our KPIs [key performance indicators] and plan ahead.

“One of the things I’m proudest of is that our employees genuinely love working with each other. We’ve got a chief people officer and, if you look on Glassdoor, you’ll see we’re quite transparent. It’s about being one team with one dream.

“Second, the numbers. As we’ve grown and hired more senior people, having a laser focus on metrics has become crucial — whether it’s revenue or growth or Ebitda or whatever. You need to identify those North Star numbers and be on them all the time. And, if you’re wavering off them, how are you getting back on?

When I was at Mortgage Express, there were only about 150 people and you were allowed to just go ahead and do things. I enjoyed the autonomy

“Last, there’s usability and the health of the overall business. Before we secured investment, I didn’t always know exactly what I was aiming for, but I knew I wanted a good business with a strong brand, happy customers and a healthy environment. So, we keep an eye on competitors, but mainly in terms of how close they’re getting to what we’re doing.

“It’s about generating value for employees and customers, and delivering on your promises.”

Forging forward

On the adviser side, Unbiased is working with larger advice businesses and has partnered with brands such as Canaccord, M&G and PensionBee, to help advisers adapt to the increasing demands for efficiency and growth.

“We’ve seen a lot of private-equity investment and consolidation in the market,” says Barrett. “That’s definitely focused advisers’ minds on getting consistent streams of new business so they can grow at a regular rate.

Google was definitely my friend in the early days, but you’ve just got to have a go

“This has led them to our platform, where they can plan what type of customer they want to onboard and with what regularity, then support their efficiencies and pro-growth targets. That’s really driving business for us.”

For Barrett, making this process ever more granular is the key goal. The platform, she says, is “very much a vertically integrated funnel, and those integrations are getting stronger all the time”.

She adds: “The vision would be to have one view of a customer, their likelihood to convert, and an understanding of the length and level of investment.

“So, looking at the data, what will we have delivered to them in five or 10 years?”

It’s clear that the success of Unbiased owes a lot to this attention to detail. But what about the 92% of people who don’t receive any financial advice at present?

“There’s clearly room for growth,” agrees Barrett.

“I’d like to see targeted advice become more accessible, especially for those who aren’t served by the market.”

When I tell her that becoming a parent last year made me think more profoundly about my financial future, she seizes on this.

Despite advising others, I hadn’t taken my own financial planning to heart

“We see people like you a lot — those who suddenly become more responsible when they become parents. They need life assurance, a bigger mortgage or savings.

“We love creating journeys for them on our website, guiding them through typical life events.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about connectivity.”

On that reassuring note, we shake hands and I head back out to the London streets.

If our conversation is anything to go by, “knocking down walls” is more than just a hobby for Barrett.

This article featured in the November 2024 edition of Money Marketing. 

If you would like to subscribe to the monthly magazine, please click here.

RENTERS have admitted they rarely consider bill costs before moving – leaving 76 per cent shocked and stung by fees.

A poll of 2,000 tenants found 54 per cent rushed through the process to move in as soon as possible, prioritising location over the heating and energy costs.

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But now 46 per cent feel they have no control over their bills, leaving 34 per cent cutting back elsewhere to afford them and 17 per cent feeling helpless at home.

And 24 per cent have even considered moving elsewhere due to the costs getting out of control.

Prior to picking up the keys, 51 per cent didn’t get much or any information from the landlord about how much they would likely have to pay for these essentials.

What’s more, 21 per cent are contractually prohibited from changing their energy supplier, with nearly half not realising this when they signed their lease.

This has left 36 per cent taking matters into their own hands by carrying out tasks to make their property more energy efficient – despite potentially breaking their tenancy agreements.

Paul White, commercial director at DIY store B&Q, which commissioned the research, said: “The research shows tenants are taking matters into their own hands, trying to improve energy efficiency in their homes – even when rental agreements typically limit what they’re allowed to change.

“Of those looking to make small but effective changes, there are a few low-cost solutions that are unlikely to breach rental agreements.

“Adding radiator reflectors to direct heat back into the room and using heavy curtains can help keep in warmth.

“These minor adjustments can make a real difference and provide renters some control over their energy costs, even if their property isn’t perfectly insulated.”

Of those who have made energy improvements around their rented home, 42 per cent have bled the radiators, and 39 per cent have installed draught seals around doors and windows.

A quarter (25 per cent) have insulated pipes and 23 per cent went as far as insulating the loft.

Half (53 per cent) of renters surveyed wanted to make these changes to stop energy bills spiralling out of control, and 44 per cent wanted to address issues with heating and cooling certain areas of the home.

But for 35 per cent, their DIY was driven by an eagerness to reduce their environmental impact.

The research, conducted via OnePoll, also found that there’s more renters can do to protect themselves before moving into new homes.

In fact, 69 per cent aren’t likely to check the age of appliances, while 67 per cent doubt they will inspect for draughts.

And 63 per cent are even unlikely to check the EPC rating of the next potential property.

Paul White from B&Q added: “Renters and homeowners alike can feel that they are unable to take control of their household bills.

“We have plenty of energy efficiency solutions, from thermostatic controls to draught excluders, which can help make it easier for customers to control and reduce their energy use, and to keep their bills from becoming overwhelming.

“As a first port of call, I’d recommend visiting our Energy Savings hub at diy.com for free tips and advice.

“Here, people can also take advantage of our free Energy Saving Service, offering personalised advice on the steps they can take to improve the energy efficiency of their home.”

Since the Financial Conduct Authority moved to a portfolio supervision model, this portfolio strategy letter has emerged as the most relevant communication for our sector.

While the Business Plan is still essential reading, the portfolio strategy letter gives more sector-specific insight, including what the FCA’s priorities are and, crucially, what its expectations are of advice firms.

It’s great to read that the regulator is looking to increase its industry engagement with an acknowledgement of the insights this can bring. At the same time, it is important all firms are on top of the FCA’s communications.

There will be no excuses if the FCA subsequently finds issues within the retirement income advice or control framework

Although only three pages long, there is a wealth of information contained within the hyperlinks to keep us all busy. Here are some of the key headlines and actions firms should be taking:

1. Retirement income advice

Since 2019, when the FCA announced its second quality of advice review would focus on retirement income, it has been clear this is a major area of emphasis. Since then, the FCA has completed and released the findings of its thematic review of retirement income advice.

Leading with this subject again indicates it was not satisfied with the overall findings from its review.

Consolidators should review their business plans, strategy documents, policies and procedures

With the Dear CEO letter that accompanied the findings of the thematic review, chief executives were written to three times in under two years about the importance of their firms ensuring retirement income leads to good customer outcomes. There will be no excuses if the FCA subsequently finds issues within the retirement income advice or control framework.

Having clearly set out its findings and expectations in relation to areas such as know-your-customer information, risk profiling and cashflow modelling, it is essential firms can demonstrate they have gone through the FCA’s report and can confirm what action they have taken to satisfy themselves that their customers are receiving good outcomes.

2. Ongoing advice services ­­­

Our sector has been discussing ongoing advice reviews all year. In fact, this focus almost overshadowed the findings from the FCA’s thematic review of retirement income advice in March.

While we await the findings from the FCA’s thematic review of ongoing advice later this year, there is still more firms should be doing. This includes reviewing their fair value statements to ensure they demonstrate their service provides value for clients.

CEOs were written to three times in under two years about the importance of their firms ensuring retirement income leads to good customer outcomes

It’s also important to review your ongoing advice policy to ensure it clearly confirms the services clients will receive, the disengagement process and the process for paying refunds where services are not delivered in accordance with the client agreement.

Firms should also ensure they monitor their ongoing advice service appropriately. Historically, business assurance has focussed on new business but, with the vast majority of clients receiving ongoing advice, this needs to be a key focus of business assurance going forward.

3. Much-anticipated consolidation review

Consolidation has been a key feature of our sector for many years. Given the FCA’s last thematic review was in 2017, it is no surprise to read it is planning thematic work in this area.

With the vast majority of clients receiving ongoing advice, this needs to be a key focus of business assurance going forward

Consolidators should review their business plans, strategy documents, policies and procedures, including integration plans and management information, in advance of the thematic review. It is important to be able to demonstrate clients are receiving clear communication and good outcomes.

The FCA has explicitly stated firms should undertake adequate due diligence on client books. With its key priority of reducing and preventing serious consumer harm, it is important firms can demonstrate the work they have undertaken where the due diligence on the client bank and more general due diligence identifies concerns.

David Boyhan is technical director at TCC 

VINTED went down this morning, leaving hundreds of shoppers and sellers locked out of their accounts.

Between 9am and 10.40am, over 717 users reported issues with the second-hand marketplace on DownDetector.

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According to the website, over 78% of customers could not use the app.

Another 19% said they could not log in to their account on the website.

It soon became clear that the issue was not due to a glitch but rather “scheduled maintenance”.

Affected users received the following message when trying to log in: “Vinted is temporarily down for scheduled maintenance.

“We’re making improvements to Vinted which will take a few hours to successfully complete.

“This will delay some of the activities you may be running on the platform, but they will resume once the system is back up.

“We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused by this. Thanks for your patience.”

People took to X (formally Twitter) to complain.

One user said: “Vinted is down are you kidding me.”

Another said: “Is there an issue with the app today? I keep getting an error.”

“The scheduled maintenance better improve the servers and add a feature to filter by price,” said a third user.

One customer told The Sun that they’re still getting notifications about sales but can’t click through to view what items have been purchased.

We’re making improvements to Vinted which will take a few hours to successfully complete

Vinted

However, others joked about the temporary outage, with one user saying: “The amount of money I’m saving right now because Vinted is down is crazy.”

Vinted last went down at the end of October when more than 1,000 users complained about being unable to use the second-hand marketplace.

Payments won’t be affected

As the issue was related to scheduled maintenance, the temporary outage should not have affected your payments.

However, if you’re struggling to get your cash from Vinted, get in touch through the app (once it’s back up) and let customer service know you haven’t received your money.

You’ll usually need to provide evidence to show you haven’t received the money, such as your latest bank statements.

This will delay some of the activities you may be running on the platform, but they will resume once the system is back up

Vinted

There is also information on Vinted’s help page for users who haven’t seen their money hit their bank account.

Visit vinted.co.uk/help/73-my-withdrawal-has-failed to find out more.

You can contact the website’s member support team directly via the app if you are still experiencing issues.

If you’re still having issues or aren’t happy with how you have been treated, you may be able to complain to a third-party dispute resolution service, such as Complain.biz.

More Vinted news

Vinted launched a “pro” version of the app last month, which allows sellers to register as sole traders and be identified as professional sellers

The upgrade is free to use and users can sell unlimited items for free.

However, The Sun revealed the second-hand seller had paused new registrations to its professional selling feature after it made some users’ National Insurance (NI) numbers available, putting them at risk of fraud.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) advises that you should not share your NI number with anyone who does not need it to prevent identity fraud.

The Sun has learned that the Independent Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is investigating the breach after several sellers reported it.

Commenting on the issue, a spokesperson for Vinted said: “For a small number of Vinted Pro members, their NI number was visible on their profile page.

“While our teams were working on fixing the issue completely, we temporarily halted the ability to upgrade accounts to Vinted Pro.

“We apologise to anyone that was affected and encourage members who have questions to reach out to our member support team.”

Do you need to pay tax on items sold on Vinted?

QUICK facts on tax from the team at Vinted…

• The only time that an item might be taxable is if it sells for more than £6,000 and there is profit (sells for more than you paid for it). Even then, you can use your capital gains tax-free allowance of £3,000 to offset it.
• Generally, only business sellers trading for profit (buying goods with the purpose of selling for more than they paid for them) might need to pay tax. Business sellers who trade for profit can use a tax-free allowance of £1,000, which has been in place since 2017.
• More information here: vinted.co.uk/no-changes-to-taxes

MILLIONS of households could save money on their water bills by making just six simple changes to how they use water.

Annual water bills are set to rise by about £27.40 to £473 from next year, according to water regulator Ofwat. 

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Between 2025 and 2030 they are forecast to rise again by an average of £19 a year.

The increases will put pressure on households already finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Around 18% of households are already struggling to pay their bills but this will climb to 40% if the changes go ahead, according to the Consumer Council for Water.

But experts at bathroom supplier Wholesale Domestic say a family of four who make small changes to their home could save more than £200 a year.

Switch to water-efficient fixtures – £50

“One of the simplest and most effective ways to save money on your energy bills is to use water-efficient fixtures,” said Brian Toward from Wholesale Domestic.

“Modern showers and taps come with aerators and flow restrictors that reduce water usage without compromising on pressure.”

The devices are very easy to install and can be fitted either inside the spout of a tap or attached to the end of it.

Prices start at around £6.50 for four.

Meanwhile, a shower head aerator is installed in the same way as a basic shower head, which means they are one of the easiest ways to reduce your water consumption.

You can pick up one of the devices for about £8.

Switching to a water-saving shower head could reduce the water you use by up to 40%.

Overall, a family of four could save around £50 a year by cutting down their water consumption with these efficient fixtures.

Lower the temperature of your water heater – £50

Your water heater temperature controls how hot water will be when it comes out of your tap or shower head.

But most households have it set far higher than needed explains Mr Toward.

“By reducing your water heater temperature to around 55°C you can still have hot showers without wasting excess energy,” he said.

“Lowering the thermostat even slightly can make a significant difference over time and save you around £45-50 a year.

Most water heaters will have a knob on the front which controls the water temperature.

Turn this to the left to reduce its flow temperature.

Do not turn your temperature down too much as this could cause harmful bacteria to grow in the water.

Take shorter showers – £20

It’s an age old tip but reducing the length of your shower can help you to save significantly on your water bills.

Heating accounts for a large part of every household’s energy consumption.

“If every member of your household reduces their shower time by just one minute, you could save hundreds of litres of water each month,” Mr Toward suggests.

“Based on a family of four this could be a saving of around £20 a year in energy bills.”

Fix dripping and leaking fixtures – £35

Although the amount of water coming out of a leaking tap may look small, it can slowly add up over the course of a year.

“A slow-dripping tap can waste up to 5,500 litres of water a year,” Mr Toward warns.

“Not only is it a waste of water but it’s a direct hit to your energy bills if it’s a hot tap.”

If you get it fixed you could save up to £35 a year based on UK water heating costs.

Leaking toilets are another culprit.

Toilets take up about 30% of the total water used in a household according to water saving organisation Save Water Save Money.

A constantly running toilet can waste over 200 litres of water a day.

Install a thermostatic mixer shower – £30

If you have an electric shower, consider changing to a thermostatic mixer shower.

These showers mix hot and cold water more precisely than an electric shower which can prevent overheating and wasted energy.

By doing so they can help to regulate water temperature more effectively and reduce the energy needed to heat the water.

Prices start from around £75.

Swapping to a thermostatic shower can shave around £30 a year off your energy bill, especially if combined with a more efficient boiler.

Use your towel dryer wisely – £20

Towel radiators and heated towel rails have become popular in many bathrooms but they can waste energy if not used wisely.

Mr Toward advises: “Limit the time you have your towel rail on as many are left running for far longer than necessary, which can eat up electricity.”

Instead, set a timer or use a programmable rail to save between £15 and £20 annually.

How else can I save on my household bills?

You could apply for a water meter to shave hundreds of pounds off your water bill every year.

Water meters charge you for the amount of water you use, so consider your household use before you get one.

If you get through a lot of water then it may not be worth getting one.

The Consumer Council for Water has a free water meter calculator which will tell you how much you could save.

Meanwhile, you could get water-saving devices from your water company. 

Get in touch with your supplier for more information or visit savewatersavemoney.co.uk.

Companies also cap the bills of households who are struggling through the WaterSure scheme.

To apply you must be on benefits and need to use lots of water for medical reasons or because your household has a certain number of children.

You must have a water meter or be waiting to get one installed.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories