Cracking America is no mean feat for a UK tech firm – yet Pimberly is well on the way to doing just that.
The Manchester-headquartered product information management (PIM) platform recently won a King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade and shows no signs of slowing down in its overseas push, with the US its primary market after the UK.
Pimberly, which raised £4m in its last round of funding in early 2024 to target expansion in the US and Europe, now employs a team of around a dozen people stateside, with almost 80 in the UK.
It featured in eighth spot in our recent RetailTech 50 ranking.
“We had a couple of clients in the US coming to us organically in the early days,” says finance director Paul Cook (pictured above), who joined the firm in 2018, when it was beginning its growth story.
“We then realised that we had to go to America in earnest: it was the next obvious spot, as the UK was generating growth.”
After setting up an American subsidiary in Delaware, COVID hampered the initial plans as founder Martin Balaam (pictured below) was unable to set foot in the country. However, he would go on to spend a considerable amount of time there. He is now based in New York for 75% of his time.
“We’ve now got a solid base of 30+ customers in the US, and they continue to see growth month on month,” says Cook, who highlights the winning bid for Parts Town, a foodservice equipment and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning parts distributor with annual revenue of $2.5bn, as a key factor in raising its profile.
“We beat out the best part of a dozen competitors in winning that bid, including the biggest in our field,” he says. “We really put ourselves on the map.”
Jigsaw puzzle
Balaam had led the private equity-backed management buyout of Nottingham-based Jigsaw24, an Apple and Adobe Systems reseller and specialist, in 2013. After four consecutive years of record revenue and EBITDA growth, he exited at more than 3x return in February 2018 and turned his attention to what would become Pimberly.
“Pimberly was incubated under the Jigsaw24 group and then was spun-off from when Martin exited, taking some of the senior leadership with him” explains Cook. “They moved from a small office above a tea shop in Knutsford to the current corporate headquarters in central Manchester which was more befitting the aspirations they had for Pimberly.
“When I joined, he was basically putting infrastructure in place to make sure that every area was covered: finance, HR, delivery then, later, operations.”
Pimberly’s software helps businesses to boost eCommerce sales by bringing product specifications and digital assets such as images, video, documents and, 3D all together in one place, providing access to up-to-date accurate information.
It has also added AI features to its platform to improve its ability to handle complex data and create compelling SEO-optimised product experiences.
In the early days it was more like a standard Argos catalogue, says Cook. “Since then, we’ve added six or seven recognisable modules – some connect our clients with their customers; others with their vendors; and some are AI. We have PDF sheets with product details, like you see in a shop, because many of our clients like that.”
Roadmap
The platform is used by the likes of Footasylum, Monsoon, JD Sports, Cotton Traders, Dover Saddlery and Harvey Nichols.
It is vital to respond to customers’ needs when evolving the product roadmap, continues Cook: “We would love to be able to sit in front of people and say: ‘This is a roadmap. This is what’s going to happen in 2025 and 2026.’
“Some of what we’re proposing will happen. But as things change, other features may become more attractive to customers. So, they will find their way into the product roadmap, meaning better solutions for our customers and growing revenues for us. Our roadmap is constantly evolving in line with our customers’ needs and technology innovations.”
Pimberly leadership team
He says Pimberly’s primary concern is keeping its customers happy. “The secondary concern is then: who are our potential future customers, and what is it that those prospects want?
“So, it’s finding that balance to make sure you’re always satisfying your existing customers and putting things in front of them which [originate elsewhere and] might have value for them.”
Growth plans & ASCEND
Pimberly is seeing growth in several industries, with construction particularly promising after Wolseley came on board. Other key targets are homewares & furniture, and food and drink: it recently welcomed LWC Drinks, the UK’s largest independent drinks wholesaler, as one of its approximately 135 clients.
“We also have a couple of Australian clients, as well as more in Saudi and others spread around Europe,” says Cook.
Cook has led Pimberly’s involvement in GM Business Growth Hub’s ASCEND Scale Up Programme, which saw him build long-lasting relationships with two dozen other Manchester tech businesses as well as delivery partner KPMG.
“We’ve used GM Business Growth Hub before for funding, training and support on our journey,” says Cook. “The programme has helped with networking, publicity and exposure, but also leading-edge thinking from KPMG around everything to do with running a company. They cover all bases.
“The camaraderie between those on the programme is amazing: it’s like ChatGPT for founders!”
Alongside continued growth in the UK and US, Cook says there will likely be a “funding event” for Pimberly late this or early next year.
Longer-term, it has been tipped for a potential IPO by some commentators in the UK broadsheets.