ABOUT Eight Owls

About Eight Owls: credit control built from real collections experience

Every invoice represents work already done.

Eight Owls helps UK SMEs protect the value of that work with stronger credit control, clearer payment processes and practical support for the people responsible for getting customers to pay.

We help businesses deal with aged debt, fix the gaps behind repeated late payment and build the skills needed to manage credit control properly.

Debt recovered

£ 0 M+

Years experience

0 +

Organisations supported

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Aged debt reduction

0 %+

WHY WE EXIST

Late payment problems often start before the chasing

Sales agreed. Work completed. Invoice sent. It should be straightforward.

Yet a missing purchase order, incorrect payment contact, unclear terms, unresolved query or inconsistent follow-up can leave an invoice drifting for weeks.

Across a sales ledger, those seemingly small gaps create overdue debt, unpredictable cash flow and difficult customer conversations.

Eight Owls exists to help businesses catch those problems earlier, deal with existing debt properly and put a clearer credit control process behind getting paid.

Being paid on time should be a normal part of doing good business.

OUR STORY

Built from years of solving late-payment problems

Eight Owls grew from decades spent working directly with businesses where late payment had become a commercial problem.

Before Eight Owls, founder Paula Bolton built FJCM, working with hundreds of businesses and recovering more than £25m in overdue debt before selling the company.

That work exposed the same patterns repeatedly: unclear terms, invoices going to the wrong person, disputes left unresolved, payment promises not followed up and escalation happening too late.

Eight Owls takes that experience and applies it earlier. We help businesses work out what needs action now, what needs fixing in the wider process and what their people need to do differently to stop the same problems returning.

Paula Bolton

Founder and lead consultant

Paula brings years of commercial experience across credit control, collections, sales and business operations.

She previously founded and scaled Franklin James Credit Management before selling the business, and has worked with organisations ranging from SMEs to major international companies.

As a five-time founder, Paula also understands the problem from the other side of the invoice: cash flow affects hiring, investment, suppliers, growth and the decisions business owners can make.

That combination of collections experience and commercial perspective shapes how Eight Owls approaches credit control today.

A Business Chameleon finalist at the 2020/21 SME National Business Awards.

HOW WE APPROACH CREDIT CONTROL

Good credit control is clear, human and consistent

Start before the due date

Confirm the invoice details, payment terms, purchase order and route to payment while there’s still time to correct them.

Make the next action obvious

Every account needs a clear status, an owner and a date for what happens next. “Chase again” isn’t a useful plan.

Be firm and professional

Clear expectations and steady follow-up lead to better conversations than vague reminders followed by sudden frustration.

Build capability inside the business

A process is only useful when the people responsible understand it and can follow it consistently.

TRUSTED IN REAL BUSINESSES

Used by the people responsible for getting invoices paid

Eight Owls has supported more than 500 organisations, including business owners, finance teams, credit controllers, administrators, accountants and bookkeepers. Some come to us with overdue debt already mounting. Others want to prevent the same problems returning. Each engagement is shaped around the ledger, the people and the commercial reality of the business.

Trusted by businesses including

FOR ACCOUNTANTS & BOOKKEEPERS

A trusted place to refer clients with credit control problems

Accountants and bookkeepers are often among the first to see the warning signs: an aged debtor report growing, debts moving into older columns or a healthy business beginning to feel pressure from unpaid invoices.

We work with professional advisers who want a trusted credit control specialist they can introduce when a client needs practical help.

You make the introduction. We help the client work out the right next step.

HOW WE CAN HELP

Start with the payment problem in front of you

Aged debt action plan

Several invoices are overdue and you need to know what to tackle first.

Credit control review & setup

Late payment keeps repeating and the process behind getting paid needs fixing.

Credit control training

Your team needs stronger skills for chasing, disputes and escalation.

TALK TO Eight Owls

Not sure what needs to happen next?

Whether you’re dealing with overdue debt, repeated late payment or a team that needs stronger collection skills, tell us what’s happening and we’ll help you identify the most sensible starting point.