Marcus Richards
Big Golden Pineapple is a holding company for professional services businesses, primarily within the financial services industry. We create bespoke and innovative solutions for organisations and individuals alike.
Our products include Leadtree Global, a financial services affiliate network, Wheelie Good Finance, a vehicle finance broker, Pineapple Recruitment, a recruitment agency, and EverChain UK, a network of debt sellers and buyers.
The vision of Big Golden Pineapple is straightforward: delivering the right outcomes, not the easiest, for customers, staff and stakeholders.
This is at the heart of everything we do, and demonstrable through every customer interaction. We achieve the right outcomes through constant training, as well as various technological solutions.
Tell us about yourself?
I initially started working in a creative and design capacity, moving into PR and marketing. I have worked on a number of award winning marketing and communication campaigns for leading brands, and greatly enjoyed being a part of such exciting and innovative projects.
I’m the sort of person who never really stops, so marketing, which is an industry that is constantly evolving, seemed like the perfect fit.
Eventually, I realised that I wanted to start promoting my own brand, rather than already established ones – partially because I relish a challenge! After a dissatisfying experience with a short term lender, I decided to enter the world of finance, and create a product that approached lending differently.
I was one of the founding members of DJS (UK) Limited, which was the parent company of one of the UK’s leading high-cost short-term credit lenders, PiggyBank.
From this, I moved on to other financial endeavours, as well as other business ventures such as launching a recruitment agency. These businesses were formed under the Big Golden Pineapple umbrella.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
As cheesy as it may sound, if I could go back in time a few years, the advice I’d give myself would be ‘it will all be okay when you believe in yourself and your team’.
There are times when you can become slightly disheartened, and struggle to push forward. But if you have faith in your colleagues, as well as yourself, there really is nothing you can’t do!
What problem does your business solve?
While our organisation is made up of several different businesses, our overall aim is to help customers find a solution to their needs in a fast and efficient manner.
This could be a short term loan, vehicle finance, a new job, or a debt portfolio. Regardless of what our customers are looking for, we assist them in finding a suitable resolution.
In terms of our financial solutions, it’s also worth noting that we aim to help those even with a poor credit history.
If an individual is in need of finance, we believe that they should have access to it, regardless of previous marks on their credit file.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
The team behind Big Golden Pineapple began as the award-winning Fintech firm, DJS (UK) Limited, founded in 2012. Under DJS (UK) Limited, we launched one of the UK’s leading high-cost short-term credit lenders, PiggyBank. Here, we had a vision to do things differently:
PiggyBank was the first high-cost short-term credit lender to be fully authorised by the FCA in 2015, and won various awards over the years.
Within our small team we have started businesses from scratch, with the aim to help customers looking for a quick and straightforward solution to their problem.
In terms of the inspiration for the name of our business, many people are unaware of the fact that pineapples have the incredible power of regeneration. With the right care and focus, the discarded leafy top of the fruit can be used to grow a whole new pineapple.
Each business that we start under the Big Golden Pineapple umbrella is a reflection of this – something small can quickly grow into something bountiful.
What is your magic sauce?
When it comes to standing out from the crowd, one of the things that makes Big Golden Pineapple unique is the way we’re able to work together.
We have so many talented individuals, who, while working in separate areas or for different businesses, collaborate to bring complementary skills to the table. Strategies that work well for one business can be transferable to another.
To give an example of this, we found that the team working in loan brokerage had a superior method of following up on leads, creating spreadsheets and flows to ensure no lead was overlooked.
This way of working was then applied to the vehicle finance team, which greatly improved their productivity levels and morale. This furthermore led to a better customer journey.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
As our name suggests, here at Big Golden Pineapple we are focused on growth. We aim to empower all staff to strive for personal development and growth, which is evidenced by our internal promotion policy. Growth of the business is also demonstrated by things like branching out internationally.
We recently started working with EverChain, a US based receivables management organisation, to create EverChain UK, and have expanded our company Leadtree Global to the US.
Over the next five years, we hope to expand even further, while maintaining our company culture of innovation, creativity, and empowering individual growth. We have strategies in place to remain a small business but become more efficient, through innovative technology and processes.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
For Big Golden Pineapple, and just about every organisation, the biggest challenge we’ve had to face has been the repercussions of the recent global pandemic.
Prior to this, all our staff were based in an office, and remote working initially took some readjustment. The main difficulty was addressing the way we exchanged ideas – group meetings were common, where ideas could be raised.
Most of all though, a successful business is about putting the right people in the right roles, which is why since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had a hybrid working strategy, which allows us to hire the right talent regardless of where they are located.
Similarly Dan has a flexible hours policy, meaning people can work the hours that best suit them and their lifestyles.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
In terms of customers, using our services can be beneficial for anyone looking for a short term loan, car finance, or a new job.
We can put them in touch with a suitable lender or employer, through a tailored service. Anyone looking to become more involved with the business can furthermore contact us via social media, or leave a review regarding their experience with the company.
Some of our businesses, such as Leadtree Global, furthermore works with a number of lenders and affiliates to generate leads. Companies working in the short term finance sector are more than welcome to reach out, and become part of our network.
In regards to fellow entrepreneurs, we are looking to launch a new podcast that focuses on entrepreneurship, and we would encourage individuals to get in touch with us to get involved.
Such collaboration can not only provide interesting and engaging content, by guest starring on this podcast, other business owners can also get more brand recognition for their project.
