Citizens Advice
Citizens Advice is a UK national charity (founded 1939) that delivers free, independent advice on benefits, debt, housing, consumer, immigration, and legal issues to the general public via a nationwide network of 500+ local offices, 14,000+ volunteers, and the citizensadvice.org.uk digital platform.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1939
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Citizens Advice does
Citizens Advice is the UK's national advice charity, founded in 1939 and operating under the legal name National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux as a company limited by guarantee (registered charity number 279057, company number 01436945). It provides free, confidential, and impartial advice across nine areas — Benefits, Work, Debt and Money, Consumer, Housing, Family, Law and Courts, Immigration, and Health — to the UK general public, with particular focus on financially vulnerable households (over 4 million estimated to be in a negative-budget position in England and Wales). The service is delivered through a hybrid model combining a comprehensive self-service website (citizensadvice.org.uk) with country-specific portals for England, Wales (bilingual English/Welsh under the name Cyngor ar Bopeth), and Scotland, alongside 500+ local offices staffed by a paid workforce of 501-1000 and over 14,000 trained volunteers.
The underlying technology platform centres on the citizensadvice.org.uk website as the primary consumer surface, supported by AdviserNet (an authenticated internal portal for staff and volunteers using Okta and Microsoft single sign-on) and supplemented by specialised modules covering immigration, cost-of-living support, benefits claims (JSA, ESA, Universal Credit), employment rights, food bank referrals, and policy research. Disclosed tooling is limited to standard web infrastructure plus Google Analytics and Mouseflow for user-behaviour analytics; there is no documented public API, SDK, or proprietary AI capability. Partnerships extend reach into institutional referral networks, including the Trussell Trust food bank network, the Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership with major UK banks and the UK Government, and digital-inclusion coalitions with AbilityNet, BT Group, Capgemini, and Deloitte.
Citizens Advice is a non-profit funded through a combination of government grants, donations, and partnerships; all end-user services are provided free of charge, and there is no pricing model, revenue per user, or commercial monetisation layer. The organisation generates no revenue from end users, has no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no equity funding history, with governance via a board and separate operating entities for Scotland and (via AdviceNI signposting) Northern Ireland. Strategic leadership rests with Chief Executive Clare Moriarty and an executive team that includes a dedicated Executive Director for Design, Data & Technology (James Plunkett), reflecting the charity's increasing orientation toward digital service delivery and evidence-based policy campaigning grounded in its millions of annual client interactions.
Citizens Advice firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Citizens Advice
- Legal name
- National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux
- Website
- https://citizensadvice.org.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1939
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- Citizens Advice is a UK national charity (founded 1939) that delivers free, independent advice on benefits, debt, housing, consumer, immigration, and legal issues to the general public via a nationwide network of 500+ local offices, 14,000+ volunteers, and the citizensadvice.org.uk digital platform.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Citizens Advice industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Consumer Advocacy and Free Legal Advice Services
- NAICS
- Social Assistance (624), Individual and Family Services (6241), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Financial Assistance & Benefits Navigation Services (BPAGAEAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM), Income Support & Cash Assistance Programs (BPAIAKAE)
Keywords
Where Citizens Advice is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Citizens Advice business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Charitable Funding: Citizens Advice is a registered charity (number 279057) that operates as a non-profit organization. The organization is funded through a combination of donations, government grants, and partnerships. Services are provided free to the public.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Citizens Advice product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Citizens Advice provides free, confidential, and impartial advice to UK residents on legal, financial, consumer, and welfare matters through its citizensadvice.org.uk website, a network of over 500 local offices across England and Wales, and country-specific portals for Wales and Scotland. The charity also runs policy research and campaigns using frontline case data to influence consumer protection, benefits, housing, and energy policy.
Product overview
Citizens Advice operates as a single integrated advice platform backed by a nationwide network of over 14,000 volunteers. The core product is the citizensadvice.org.uk website, which provides free, confidential advice across nine key areas: Benefits, Work, Debt and Money, Consumer, Housing, Family, Law and Courts, Immigration, and Health. Supporting the public-facing website is AdviserNet, an authenticated portal for staff and volunteers. The service also includes country-specific portals for Wales and Scotland, with Wales offering bilingual (English/Welsh) content. The offering is structured around a single advice delivery platform supplemented by specialized modules covering immigration guidance, cost of living support, benefits claims (JSA, ESA, Universal Credit), employment rights, food bank referrals, and policy research. Turn2us benefits calculator is referenced as an external resource to help users identify available financial support.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Citizens Advice Free Advice Service (England and Wales) The flagship free, confidential, and impartial advice service for the public in England and Wales, covering benefits, work, debt and money, consumer, housing, family, law and courts, immigration, and health. Delivered via the citizensadvice.org.uk website and a network of over 500 local offices.
- Citizens Advice Wales / Cyngor ar Bopeth
Quantifiable outcome
- Citizens Advice giving crisis support every 30 seconds
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Citizens Advice
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Citizens Advice technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Citizens Advice partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- LoqboxminorCitizens Advice partnered with fintech firm Loqbox to commission a survey of 2,000 UK adults aged 18-28 on financial education and mental health impacts of money worries. The research revealed that 65% of Gen Z say money worries are damaging their mental health.
- BT GroupminorAbilityNet partnered with BT Group (along with Capgemini and Deloitte) to scale community-based digital skills support nationwide. Citizens Advice is mentioned in context of digital inclusion efforts.
- CapgeminiminorAbilityNet partnered with Capgemini (along with BT Group and Deloitte) to scale community-based digital skills support nationwide. Citizens Advice is mentioned in context of digital inclusion efforts.
- DeloitteminorAbilityNet partnered with Deloitte (along with BT Group and Capgemini) to scale community-based digital skills support nationwide. Citizens Advice is mentioned in context of digital inclusion efforts.
- Trussell TrustcoreCitizens Advice provides food bank referrals to the Trussell Trust network. People needing emergency food support can get a referral from Citizens Advice. The Trussell Trust runs the largest network of food banks in the UK.
- Green Finance InstituteminorUK Government and Green Finance Institute co-launched the Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership. Citizens Advice is referenced as part of the coalition working on consumer issues related to energy efficiency and green finance products.
- BarclaysminorMajor UK bank participating in Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership to develop mass-market green finance products for home energy efficiency upgrades.
- HSBCminorMajor UK bank participating in Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership to develop mass-market green finance products for home energy efficiency upgrades.
- Lloyds Banking GroupminorMajor UK bank participating in Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership to develop mass-market green finance products for home energy efficiency upgrades.
- NationwideminorBuilding society participating in Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership to develop mass-market green finance products for home energy efficiency upgrades.
- NatWestminorMajor UK bank participating in Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership to develop mass-market green finance products for home energy efficiency upgrades.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves3 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Citizens Advice competitors and assessment
Company assessmentRegional players
- Citizens Advice Scotland: Affiliated but separately constituted body delivering Citizens Advice-branded advice services across Scotland; directly comparable model, scope, and funding profile, but operates as an independent entity serving a different UK nation.
- Community Advice Northern Ireland (AdviceNI): Independent advice network for Northern Ireland that Citizens Advice signposts users to; same advice categories and free public-service model, but operating in a separate jurisdiction.
Direct peers
- AdviceUK: UK membership body for independent advice charities providing free social welfare, legal, debt, and benefits advice; directly comparable mission, advice categories, and client base to Citizens Advice.
- Money Advice Trust: UK charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline and provides money advice training; overlaps directly with Citizens Advice's debt-and-money and benefits advice services.
- StepChange Debt Charity: UK's largest specialist debt advice charity, offering free debt advice and debt management plans; directly competes with Citizens Advice's debt and money advice services for the same financially vulnerable client base.
- Shelter: UK national housing and homelessness charity providing free housing advice, legal services, and campaigning; directly overlaps with Citizens Advice's housing advice, tenant rights, and eviction support work.
- Law Centres Network: Federation of UK law centres providing free legal advice and representation on social welfare issues; comparable client base and overlapping scope with Citizens Advice's law, immigration, and rights advice categories.
- National Debtline: Free, confidential debt advice service run by the Money Advice Trust; directly competes with Citizens Advice's debt advice offering and shares the same target demographic of financially distressed UK households.
- Trussell Trust: UK charity running the largest network of food banks and a core referral partner of Citizens Advice; complementary service model addressing the same cost-of-living-vulnerable population.
Emerging players
- Turn2us: UK charity providing a benefits calculator and grant information to help people access financial support; comparable benefits-navigation use case and is even embedded as a tool within Citizens Advice's own cost-of-living content.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Citizens Advice social profiles
Digital presenceCitizens Advice financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Citizens Advice leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Citizens Advice funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Citizens Advice M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Citizens Advice
What does Citizens Advice do?
Citizens Advice provides free, confidential, and impartial advice to UK residents on legal, financial, consumer, and welfare matters through its citizensadvice.org.uk website, a network of over 500 local offices across England and Wales, and country-specific portals for Wales and Scotland. The charity also runs policy research and campaigns using frontline case data to influence consumer protection, benefits, housing, and energy policy.
Is Citizens Advice a public or private company?
Citizens Advice is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Citizens Advice founded?
Citizens Advice was founded in 1939. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Citizens Advice based?
Citizens Advice is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Citizens Advice make money?
One revenue line is on record: charitable Funding.
Who are Citizens Advice's main competitors?
Regional players on record are Citizens Advice Scotland and Community Advice Northern Ireland (AdviceNI). Direct peers are AdviceUK, Money Advice Trust, StepChange Debt Charity, Shelter, Law Centres Network, National Debtline and Trussell Trust. Turn2us is listed as an emerging player.
Does Citizens Advice have an API?
No public API is recorded for Citizens Advice.
What industry is Citizens Advice in?
Citizens Advice's product category is Consumer Advocacy and Free Legal Advice Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAEAK, Financial Assistance & Benefits Navigation Services, with a secondary code of BPAGAEAM, Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services. Its NAICS code is 624 and its SIC code is 8300.