Face for Business

What Face for Business does

Face for Business (legal entity: Face for Business Limited, company number 08229019) is a UK-based telephone answering and live chat service provider founded in 2012 and headquartered in Burscough, Lancashire. The company delivers call handling, message taking, call transfer, diary management, appointment booking, and managed live chat on behalf of UK small and mid-sized businesses, employing UK-based personal assistants (PAs) trained in-house through a 13-week programme rather than offshore or automated/bot-based alternatives. The company holds ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials certifications, is a British Franchise Association member, and reports operational metrics including 3.6 million+ calls handled since inception, 97.6% of calls answered within three rings, and a 94%+ trial-to-paid conversion rate.

The company operates a subscription-based revenue model with usage-based billing components, offering three primary tiers: Telephone Answering from £49/month, Live Chat from £99/month, and Outsourced Switchboard from £115/month. All packages are billed monthly with no setup fees, no out-of-hours premium, and per-second billing rather than rounded-up minute billing, with an optimised group-pricing feature that auto-adjusts customers between tariff tiers based on usage. Customer acquisition combines a self-serve 7-day free trial with inside sales (phone-based), supported by content marketing, SEO, a referral programme (Refer and Earn offering £250 Amazon Gift Card), and 102 Google reviews at a 100% five-star rating. Target segments include property/real estate, legal/solicitors, construction/trades, healthcare, accountants/IFAs, franchises, and small businesses — distributed across many verticals with no single enterprise anchor dominating the mix.

Technology is proprietary and built in-house, including a client portal and mobile app for real-time access to messages, call recordings (retained 90 days), and account information, plus a diary management and appointment booking system integrated with client calendars. The company sells and services customers exclusively within the United Kingdom through direct channels (website, phone, client portal). It remains a privately held, founder-led limited company with no disclosed external investment, no subsidiaries, and no publicly reported revenue.

Name

Face for Business

Legal name

Face for Business Limited

Website

https://ffb.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Face for Business is a UK-based telephone answering and live chat service provider, employing in-house trained UK-based personal assistants to deliver call handling, message taking, appointment booking, and outsourced switchboard services to small and mid-sized businesses across UK verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Burscough

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Telephone Answering Service: Monthly subscription service providing virtual PA call answering. Includes message taking, call transfers, and company name answering. Billed based on usage with optimised group pricing. Free setup, no out-of-hours premium.
2. Outsourced Switchboard: Full reception outsourcing with dedicated PA team including lead PA and wider team support. Includes optional appointment booking and payment processing. Higher-tier subscription service from £115/month.
3. Live Chat Service: Managed live chat service for websites, answered by professionally trained PAs instead of bots. Provides lead generation through immediate customer enquiry responses.
4. Usage-Based Billing: All packages billed by the second (not rounded up). Monthly optimisation ensures customers are on the best tariff for their usage. Excess usage charged at appropriate rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Face for Business provides UK-based telephone answering, call handling, and live chat services staffed by trained personal assistants. The company offers subscription-based coverage for incoming calls, including outsourced switchboard, virtual receptionist, live chat, and appointment booking services for small businesses and specialized sectors such as property, legal, healthcare, construction, and accountancy.

Product overview

Face for Business is a UK-based telephone answering service provider offering a suite of communication services centered around real human PAs (not bots). The core product portfolio consists of Telephone Answering Service, Virtual Receptionist Service, and Outsourced Switchboard for call handling, complemented by Live Chat and Appointment Booking modules. All services are delivered by UK-based PAs trained in various industry sectors, with no AI or automated systems used in customer interactions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Telephone Answering Service
• Outsourced Switchboard Personal assistants operate as a fully outsourced switchboard for businesses, screening and routing inbound calls to the right team member. Targets businesses that need call routing and screening without an internal switchboard.
• Virtual Receptionist Service A virtual receptionist acts as a remote front desk, greeting callers, taking messages, transferring calls, and handling basic administrative enquiries. Aimed at professionals and small businesses that want a receptionist presence without a physical office.
• Live Chat Real personal assistants handle website live chat enquiries on behalf of clients during business hours, responding in the client's tone and escalating where required. Designed for small businesses that want online enquiry coverage without a dedicated chat team.
• Appointment Booking Personal assistants book, reschedule, and confirm appointments directly into clients' calendars during phone or live chat interactions. Suits service-based businesses such as healthcare, legal, property, and trades that schedule client appointments over the phone.

Quantifiable outcome

• 97.6% of calls answered within 3 rings
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers30 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• PATLive: PATLive is a US-based live answering service offering 24/7 call handling, message taking, appointment scheduling, and lead capture for SMBs. Comparable in pricing structure (per-call/per-minute), service mix, and SMB/professional services target market.
• Ruby Receptionists: Ruby is a North American virtual receptionist service providing live call answering, chat, and lead qualification for SMBs. Direct peer in service mix, customer profile (professional services, healthcare, legal), and recurring subscription revenue model.
• VoiceNation: VoiceNation is a US-based live answering service providing order entry, message taking, dispatch, and appointment scheduling for SMBs. Comparable on live US-based (and offshore) agents, 24/7 coverage, and subscription billing — though FFB differentiates on UK-only, all-UK staffing.
• Smith.ai: Smith.ai blends live receptionist call answering with AI-enabled chat and lead intake for SMBs. Highly comparable to Face for Business on the call answering core, with similar Live Chat/lead capture adjacencies that overlap with FFB's Live Chat service.
• Answer Connect: Answer Connect is a US-headquartered virtual receptionist and call answering service with global coverage. Directly comparable in product offering (24/7 live answering, message taking, call transfer) and subscription pricing model, though broader in geography.
• Moneypenny: Moneypenny is a UK-based telephone answering, switchboard, and live chat service provider serving SMB and enterprise clients. It is the most direct competitor to Face for Business given its identical UK focus, PA-led model (not AI), and similar verticals (legal, property, healthcare, trades).
• Call Direct Answering Solutions (CDA): CDA is a UK-based call answering and virtual receptionist provider offering 24/7 inbound call handling, message taking, and appointment booking. Closely comparable to Face for Business on geography (UK), target customer (SMB/professional services), and human-led delivery model.
• Go Answer: Go Answer is a US-based 24/7 live answering and virtual receptionist service for SMBs in legal, medical, real estate, and home services. Direct peer on call handling, message taking, and appointment booking — verticals that overlap significantly with Face for Business's segments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/face4business
• Facebookfacebook.com/faceforbusiness1

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Face for Business