Rising star Paul Breen
What's so special He's designed software that gives businesses the option to access finance by securing funding through wage bills

"Every firm has a cashflow problem in its lifecycle," claims Paul Breen, the Welsh founder of independent business finance provider Wageroller. To help companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), handle the "peaks and troughs", he says he's come up with a viable alternative to facilities such as factoring and invoice discounting: a payment break on the wagebill.

Wageroller lets SMEs borrow money by deferring their wage bills. It pays the employees' wages and national insurance contributions, and charges interest on the amount it has advanced.

"I'd been working on the idea for two years before the final piece fell into place," says Breen. "I packed in work, sold my houses, my boat, and my cars and concentrated on getting the job finished." It was a risk, but he says: "Any person can come up with a world-beating idea, but not many see it through. My motivation was that everyone said it couldn't be done, and I wanted to prove them wrong."

Breen designed the software from scratch—"no-one had ever done this before"—but says he was frightened that someone would steal the idea. "We own the patent, the trademarks. But anyone we talk to has to sign a confidentiality and non-compete agreement."

Wageroller now has 400 clients and Breen has opened up the service in Ireland. But he's most excited about the firm's plans to license its software to companies in other countries. "We've just sold our first licence in Poland for a considerable amount of money," he says.

The scope for growth is sizeable, but Breen keeps his feet on the ground: "The challenge is that everyone wants something for nothing. It's about knowing who to go to for good advice, and getting the timing right."