What Talking Money does

Talking Money is an independent UK charity, registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 900311, company number 02457362), founded in 1990 and headquartered at 1 The Hide Market, West Street, Bristol. It provides free, confidential money advice, debt resolution, and welfare benefits guidance to individuals facing financial difficulties in Bristol and South Gloucestershire. The organisation is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 618880), which permits it to deliver regulated debt advice. Its core activities are organised into three interconnected service lines — Money Advice Services (one-to-one casework with consistent advisers), Partnership Work (collaborative delivery with partner organisations), and Influencing Systems (advocacy to change local and national systems) — supplemented by Community Outreach and the Aviva Foundation-funded Whole Person Approach programme developed with St Pauls Advice Centre and AdviceUK.

Talking Money does not operate a technology product, software platform, or AI-based service; its capability is built on specialist-trained human advisers covering welfare benefits and debt. The business model is grant-funded rather than commercial: all services are free to clients, and the charity is sustained by a diversified portfolio of institutional funders including Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, Aviva Foundation, National Lottery Reaching Communities, Nationwide Foundation, Quartet Community Foundation, Money and Pensions Service Modernisation Fund, John James Bristol Foundation, Santander Foundation, St James's Place Charitable Foundation, and Triodos Foundation. In the 2024/25 reporting period the charity supported 306 individuals (and their households), with £868,000 of measurable client financial gain, 84% of clients achieving what they wanted, 71% leaving in a better financial position, and 80% reporting reduced stress levels.

The organisation is led by Co-Chief Executives Anna Brown and Kerryn Bell, governed by a Board of Trustees, and has a headcount in the 11–50 range. There is no parent company, no subsidiaries, no funding rounds beyond one £185,718 Bristol City Funds grant recorded in April 2020, no equity, and no recorded M&A activity. Geographic scope is deliberately narrow: services are restricted to Bristol and South Gloucestershire, with no claim of global or national direct delivery, although the AdviceUK partnership is positioned to influence practice at a national level.

Name

Talking Money

Legal name

Talking Money

Website

https://talkingmoney.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Talking Money is an FCA-regulated UK charity providing free, confidential money, debt, and benefits advice to individuals facing financial difficulty in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, funded by grants from local authorities and charitable foundations and delivered by specialist advisers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Debt and Money Advice Services

NAICS

Other Nondepository Credit Intermediation (52229)

SIC

Personal Credit Institutions (6141)

akta.pro primary industry

Financial Education & Coaching (Digital Programs, Tools) (FSAGADAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Budgeting & Cash-Flow Management (EDAAAJAA), Banking & Payments (Accounts, Cards, Digital Payments) (EDAAAJAD)

Keywords

• Debt advice services
• Money advice charity
• Welfare benefits guidance
• Financial education services
• Debt counseling

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Talking Money is an independent UK charity that delivers free, confidential money and debt advice, welfare benefits guidance, financial education, and consultancy services to individuals in Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Services are delivered by trained advisers — some specialising in welfare benefits and others in debt — through one-to-one casework, community outreach, and partnership work with local organisations. The charity is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 618880).

Product overview

Talking Money is an independent charity providing free, confidential money advice services in Bristol and South Gloucestershire. The organisation operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform with modules. Its core activities consist of three interconnected services: Money Advice Services (providing direct debt resolution, benefits guidance, and financial guidance through consistent advisers), Partnership Work (collaborating with organisations to reach specific groups and provide holistic support), and Influencing Systems (advocacy to change local and national systems). The organisation also delivers Community Outreach and ran the Whole Person Approach programme with Aviva Foundation funding. The impact report does not reference any technology products, SaaS offerings, or API-based services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 84% of clients leave having achieved what they wanted
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Aviva FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner for whole person approach project, functioning as true partner rather than just funder
• AdviceUKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership to strengthen local collaboration and influence practice nationally
• St Pauls Advice CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal advice partnership to strengthen community collaboration

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• StepChange Debt Charity: The UK's largest specialist debt advice charity, providing free, FCA-regulated debt advice and solutions. Directly comparable to Talking Money on mission (debt resolution for individuals in hardship), funding model (grants/donations), and regulatory positioning (FCA-authorised).
• Christians Against Poverty (CAP): UK charity providing free debt counselling, money education, and life-skills coaching through a network of local church-based centres. Closely comparable to Talking Money on charitable money-advice mission, FCA-regulated debt solutions, and local-centre delivery model.
• National Debtline: Free, confidential debt advice service funded by the Money and Pensions Service and operated by the Money Advice Trust. Directly comparable as a debt-advice service for individuals, though delivered nationally via phone and web rather than face-to-face locally.
• Money Wellness: Free debt advice and money guidance service for UK individuals, including debt solutions, benefits support, and budgeting tools. Comparable as a free, FCA-regulated debt-advice provider; differs in being a larger, digitally-led organisation.
• Turn2us: UK charity helping people in financial hardship access benefits, grants, and debt support. Directly comparable on financial-hardship mission and benefits-navigation services; delivers primarily online/nationally versus Talking Money's face-to-face regional model.
• PayPlan: Free debt advice and Debt Management Plan provider in the UK. Directly comparable on free debt advice for individuals and FCA-regulated status; serves a national client base versus Talking Money's regional focus.

Broad incumbents

• Citizens Advice: The largest UK advice network offering debt, benefits, and consumer advice across England and Wales. Comparable in service mix (money/debt/benefits advice for individuals) but operates at national scale through a network of local offices, making Talking Money effectively a small local analogue.
• Money Advice Trust: UK charity that operates National Debtline and funds innovation in debt advice. Comparable in mission (improving debt advice outcomes) and funder ecosystem (MaPS-aligned); acts as both an operator and an umbrella/funder for smaller advice charities like Talking Money.
• AdviceUK: UK membership body for independent advice charities, of which Talking Money is a member. Comparable as a strategic partner supporting advice-charity delivery and a national influencing body; broader membership/remit than a single advice provider.
• Money Helper (Money and Pensions Service): UK government's free, impartial money and pensions guidance service. Comparable on free money-advice mission for individuals; differs as a government-arm's-length body that also funds frontline charities like Talking Money via the MaPS Modernisation Fund.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TalkingMoneyUK
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/talking-money
• Xx.com/talkingmoneyuk

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Talking Money