Ardent celebrates its silver jubilee

Liverpool-based debt recovery and credit management services provider, Ardent Credit Services, is celebrating reaching its silver jubilee in June 2022.

The company began with one employee – founder Steve Murray, now the firm’s CEO – and during his 25 years in business his team has expanded to 90 colleagues.  Revenue is now in excess of £6m per annum, with staff receiving more than a million accounts for collection each year from a raft of blue-chip UK and overseas clients.

“My first office wasn’t what you might describe as corporate,” says Steve Murray.  “Hard work by a lot of committed people means my staff and clients now enjoy a comfortable, modern environment with the very best in technology.  The quality of our client base has grown in tandem,” he notes.

Steve says some important milestones for the firm’s consistent growth came in 2005 when, as a modest DCA of only 5 staff, the firm won a major motor finance client, followed a couple of years later by one of the UK’s leading mobile phone operators.

“They’re still with us and we’re their top-performing DCA,” he says with pride. “Retaining and growing PLC-grade clients requires constant innovation and a desire to be the very best, not to mention resilience. I’m very proud of what my team has delivered.”

The senior management team has kept pace with the firm’s wider growth and since 2017 has included Ardent’s Managing Director John Ricketts, a long-standing board member of The Credit Services Association and well known throughout the UK industry.

“John has brought a wealth of industry experience and is a great mentor for our management team.  We place a lot of emphasis on ‘growing from within’ and that focus will remain,” said Steve.