Staplebarn Limited and Brixx
Last week, we sat down with Oliver Browne-Wilkinson from Staplebarn Limited to learn how he and his team use Brixx.
What is Staplebarn Limited?
Staplebarn Limited is a UK-based ISO 9001 and 14001 certified R&D manufacturing company that has been building sustainable, scalable products designed to reduce environmental waste for the last 30 years. Their key products include fabric-based insulation for buildings (Panotherm), biodegradable training bones for orthopedic inserts (MITA Bionics), a retrofit nozzle for beer taps that reduces overpouring (BeerTrim), and a small rewilding project in Devon.
Net Zero is at the forefront of everything that Staplebarn does. The team uses electric-vehicle courier services and has streamlined processes to reduce their carbon emissions at work.
How did Staplebarn benefit from using Brixx?
The Brixx team sat down with Staplebarn founder Oliver Browne-Wilkinson to explore the financial planning challenges behind his business – and how Brixx now gives him the clarity and structure to plan with confidence.
Q: What were the challenges you faced in building a financial forecast?
Staplebarn is no ordinary business – the company does not borrow any money. This makes planning for working capital extremely important as the business scales. As Oliver puts it, “A sale is not a sale until it is paid for. And with my business, I have to make the cash work harder.”
“Forecasting cash flow across R&D cycles, production runs, and sales pipelines was challenging. Testing scenarios took time, and there was no single reliable place to look at for an overall financial picture.”
Q: What led you to try Brixx?
“We were introduced to Brixx through INNOVATE UK’s EDGE programme that connected businesses with specialists. For the financial side, they recommended Brixx to improve the company’s financial planning in anticipation of investment,” says Oliver.
Q: How has Brixx changed the way you approach financial planning?
“I had to spend time maintaining spreadsheets and balance sheets, without a clear picture of how decisions were impacting the cash flow.”
Oliver found that Brixx helped him understand how to make his receivable income work sooner, so he could grow the business without borrowing.
Q: What impact have you seen with Brixx?
“When you own a business, a big part of you is always looking to minimise expenditure. You know you run a financial risk when launching a product, and you have to be able to forecast and measure that financial risk.”
Today, Oliver uses Brixx to minimise those financial risks and organise financial reporting based in a way that mirrors how his business actually works. He now has better visibility into his cash flow, fewer financial surprises, and a clearer sense of how production decisions impact cash over time.
“Brixx has made that structure enormously more fine-grained and detailed. It feels like I’ve got a handle on individual projects to re-analyse their progress based on project income.”
