Waters & Gate

What Waters & Gate does

Waters & Gate is the trading name of Clear Castle Limited, a privately held UK credit management and debt recovery consultancy founded in 2015 and headquartered in North Shields, England, with a secondary office in Dublin serving Irish clients. The firm operates under Financial Conduct Authority Licence 711769 and supports UK, Ireland and international clients through an integrated suite of services covering commercial and consumer debt collection, no-trace-no-fee debtor tracing, managed legal recovery (pre-legal through enforcement), credit management consultancy, outsourced credit control, and bespoke credit control training. Its stated client base includes some of the largest UK companies across media/publishing, pest control, credit checking, magazine and training verticals, and its value proposition rests on a no-collection-no-fee commission model under which collection fees are added to the debt and recovered from the debtor directly, making the service effectively cost-free to the client in many cases.

The platform layer is built on a custom in-house CRM that enables per-client bespoke collection strategies, paired with a 24/7 online client portal for real-time portfolio visibility and a 24/7 online payment portal plus automated phone line (0330 174 4516) that lets debtors view balances, set up payment plans and pay by debit or credit card. A manual, agent-verified tracing process operates within a GDPR-compliant framework aligned with CSA, ICO and FCA guidelines, supported by an ISO 27001-aligned Information Security Management System overseen by a designated Information Security Officer. Customer help flows (dispute, vulnerability, income & expenditure, document request, payment plan) are delivered through Google Forms, and settlement runs through a NatWest business account.

Revenue is generated across six streams: commission-based debt collection (transaction fees recovered from debtors), per-trace unit fees (£75-£290+VAT depending on trace type), outcome-based managed legal services, professional services for credit management consultancy, fixed-price training courses (half-day, full-day, two-day, three-day and lunch-bite formats delivered in 15+ UK cities or on-site), and managed outsourced credit control. Distribution is primarily direct via phone, email and the online client portal, supplemented by an international partner network for cross-border 360 Collections. The firm is led by a five-person senior team (Director Allan Poole, Head of Operations Katherine Lishman, Collections Manager Helen Bowman, Legal Manager Stephen Carn, Finance Manager Nile Warde, who also serves as Data Protection Officer), with Allan Poole holding a Trustee position on the Executive Board of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.

Name

Waters & Gate

Legal name

Clear Castle Limited

Website

https://watersandgate.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Waters & Gate (trading as Clear Castle Limited) is a UK-based, FCA-regulated credit management and debt recovery consultancy that provides no-collection-no-fee commercial and consumer collections, tracing, legal, outsourcing, training and consultancy services to UK, Irish and international creditors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Debt Collection and Credit Management Services

NAICS

Collection Agencies (56144)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAAAEAG

Debt Buying / Portfolio Acquisition & Recovery (Debt Purchasers)

Business & Public Services/Administrative & Support Services (BPO, Call Centers, Back Office)/Collections, Recovery & Skip Tracing Services

Keywords

• Debt collection services
• Credit management consultancy
• Debtor tracing services
• Legal debt recovery
• Credit control training

Headquarters

HQ city

North Shields

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices17 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Commission-based debt collection: No-collection-no-fee model where fees are added to the original debt and sought from the debtor directly; commission varies by age, value and specialist nature of the debt. Recurring on a per-debt basis.
2. Tracing services (no trace, no fee): Per-trace unit fees: Full Tracing £75+VAT, Employment Tracing £95+VAT, Combined Address & Employment £110+VAT, Asset Reports £290+VAT. Charged only on successful trace.
3. Managed legal services: Fees recovered via legal process (pre-legal, claim, judgment, enforcement) with court/enforcement costs and legal fees passed through and recovered from the debtor where possible.
4. Training courses: Per-course pricing (one price regardless of number of delegates) for half-day, full-day, two-day, three-day and 2-hour lunch-bite courses; on-site bespoke delivery also offered. Cancellation fee tiers apply.
5. Credit management consultancy: Project-based advisory engagements covering sales process, T&Cs, CRM systems, credit control processes and sales-to-cash life cycle. Pricing not publicly disclosed.
6. Outsourced credit control: Outsourcing service where Waters & Gate provides a dedicated credit control team that integrates into the client's accounts function, adaptable to short- or long-term needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Waters & Gate provides no-collection-no-fee commercial and consumer debt recovery services across the UK, Ireland and globally, supported by a bespoke in-house CRM and online client portal. The offering spans the full credit management lifecycle, including debt collection, credit management consultancy, legal recovery, debtor tracing, credit control training, and outsourced credit control, helping clients improve cash flow.

Product overview

Waters & Gate is a single integrated credit management practice rather than a multi-brand platform: its core Debt Collection Services anchor the offering, with Credit Management Consultancy, Legal Services, Tracing Services, Credit Management Training, Credit Management Outsourcing, and 360 Collections (International Debt Recovery) acting as interlocking service modules that span the full sales-to-cash lifecycle. Customers transact through the Online Client Portal (for clients) and the Online Payment Portal (for debtors), and self-serve via the Customer Help & Support Tools (Document Request, Dispute, Income & Expenditure, Vulnerability, Payment Plan).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Debt Collection Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% collection success rate on two debts placed for a South Wales Magazine Publication, with collection fees recovered from the debtor
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / brand-affirming and core / capability-extending.

• Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM)flagship / brand-affirmingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCICM logos appear on the Waters & Gate homepage alongside the 2020 British Credit Awards winner badge, signalling active membership and association. Director Allan Poole was appointed as a Trustee on the CICM Executive Board, giving Waters & Gate a senior voice in the UK credit management profession.
• International partner network (for 360 Collections)core / capability-extendingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWaters & Gate operates a '360 Collections' model through a network of international partners, allowing clients to outsource worldwide debt recovery to a single point of contact with language-specific collectors and dunning processes.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Advantis Credit: Advantis Credit is a UK mid-market debt collection and credit management specialist serving commercial and consumer clients. It directly competes for the same B2B creditor segment and overlaps with Water & Gate on bespoke collection strategies and legal recovery.
• Anovo (UK): Anovo provides debt recovery, credit management and customer-contact services to UK and international creditors. It overlaps with Water & Gate on commercial collections and tracing, but operates at larger scale with more international infrastructure.
• Frontline Collections: Frontline Collections is a UK debt collection agency offering commercial and consumer recovery, tracing and legal services. It targets a similar mid-market creditor profile to Water & Gate and competes head-to-head on no-collection-no-fee commercial terms.
• Moorcroft Debt Recovery: Moorcroft is a UK-based debt collection and field-enforcement agency with a comparable mid-market creditor focus, similar commercial-and-consumer collections offering, and tracing/legal capabilities. It is one of the closest size-and-scope comparables for Water & Gate.
• Robinson Way: Robinson Way is a UK consumer and commercial debt recovery specialist with collections, tracing and litigation services. It competes in the same UK mid-market debt recovery segment and offers a comparable end-to-end service model.
• Bristow & Sutor: Bristow & Sutor is a long-established UK debt recovery and enforcement firm offering collections, tracing, legal action and enforcement. It is a direct competitor in commercial debt recovery but has historically had stronger field-enforcement capabilities than Water & Gate.

Broad incumbents

• Lowell Group: Lowell is a major UK and European debt purchaser and servicer with end-to-end collections, legal, tracing and customer-contact capabilities. It competes with Water & Gate only indirectly, but its size and brand set the benchmark for service quality and pricing power in UK debt recovery.
• Marston Holdings: Marston Holdings is one of the UK’s largest enforcement, debt recovery and integrated transport services groups, owning brands such as Bristow & Sutor and Swift. It dwarfs Water & Gate in scale and competes across the full credit management lifecycle, including enforcement.

Others

• PayPlan: PayPlan is a UK debt advice and free debt management provider. It is not a direct competitor — it sits on the consumer-debtor side rather than the creditor-recovery side — but it intersects with Water & Gate’s consumer-debtor payment-plan and vulnerability workflows.
• CICM (Chartered Institute of Credit Management): CICM is the UK’s professional body for credit management, of which Water & Gate Director Allan Poole is a Trustee. It is not a competitor but a key ecosystem institution for training, accreditation and lead generation that shapes Water & Gate’s training and consultancy positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WatersandGate
• Facebookfacebook.com/watersandgate

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Waters & Gate