How a research business structures cash reserves for growth

In conversation with Neil, Finance Director of The Nursery

Running a business with a legacy of almost two decades requires forward thinking, creativity, and flexibility. Finance Director Neil Barnett understands this instinctively. It’s the reason he sought out a solution that added security and predictable returns to The Nursery’s cash reserves.

We sat down with Neil to discuss how he uses Flagstone, what’s important to him when it comes to cash, and how he selects his ideal accounts to protect and grow The Nursery’s reserves.

Tell us about you and your business.

I’m Neil Barnett, Finance Director and Board Member at The Nursey research and planning company. The Nursery do qualitative and quantitative market research for blue chip businesses. We're a team of about 40 people and have been in business for over 15 years.

I’m also a fractional CFO for a few other businesses.

What are the most important considerations when evaluating cash reserves?

The most important aspects are security of our funds and maximising returns.

Flexibility with our cash is also extremely important, due to the nature of our business setup and how we operate.

Gaining access to instant accounts from a wide range of secure banks is critical to us, so we can use our business cash as we need it.

How were you managing your cash before you came to Flagstone?  

We held all our cash with high street banks. Although we considered this low risk, our interest rates were minimal. There were no rewards for this approach.

Why do you use Flagstone?

You get interest on the money that would otherwise sit in a current account. It's also an easy sell to the other board directors because it's safe – protected via FSCS, with predictable returns. 

How do you choose your savings accounts with Flagstone?

I usually sort the list by the highest interest rates, fund the top account first and then move onto the next highest rate.

As long as they have FSCS protection, we fund each account up to the limit (£85,000 per account, per institution). You can put more money than that in most accounts, but we want to make sure all our cash is secure if the unexpected occurs.

The smarter way to look after your business cash

Finding the best home for your business cash shouldn’t take hours of research. With Flagstone, you can access 250+ business savings accounts from 40+ banks. All in one place, with one password.

Spend less time looking up rates, and more time earning high interest on your cash reserves.

Open accounts with 40+ FSCS-protected banks – more than any business cash platform.

JOIN FLAGSTONE