urbanbubble

The Trevi Group is a world leader in underground engineering, blending tradition and technology to meet global infrastructure needs.

We spoke with the Corporate Finance and Insurance Manager at Trevi Finanziaria Industriale Spa, about his experience at Trevi. Among other things, we discussed the challenges financial teams face and how the Soldo platform supports business goals.

Between tradition and innovation

How Soldo improved urbanbubble’s cash flow by 70%

urbanbubble is the largest leading operator of Institutional Property in Build to Rent (BTR), Co-Living serving England, Scotland and Wales with substantial Leasehold and lettings portfolio in the North of England and London.

urbanbubble are proud to serve it’s 14,000 residents and are growing, operating in 20 cities across England, Wales and Scotland. urbanbubble employs over 450 FTE and collectively cares for over 11,000 units and more than 85 communities within residential blocks, BTR communities, and PRS schemes. This is expected to grow, according to Tony Lilon, urbanbubble’s assistant management accountant.

The challenge

The company had used an expense management platform for years. But as it grew, its previous platform couldn’t keep up.

“Just a few months ago, we only had 350 people,” says Lilon. “So we’re growing at a really fast clip.”

Given urbanbubble’s growth, the finance team stepped up efforts to transform the company’s processes. According to Lilon, that entailed “a lot of automation” and also careful analysis of existing systems.

“We phased out the systems that weren’t fully serving the purpose that we intended them for.” Lilon explains. “Instead we explored other options and we replaced them with more flexible and improved solutions.”

The solution

Implementing Soldo was part of this company-wide improvement.

“What attracted us the most was the ability to split people’s budgets into different wallets. We wanted a provider who could scale with us, help us grow and a company we could trust with increased security.” Lilon says.

With Soldo, company funds can be assigned to a specific card. urbanbubble’s sites are split all over the UK. But until Soldo, card users would draw from the same pot.

“Now, different communities have different wallets and everyone has their own budget,” Lilon says. “It makes things a lot easier for the finance team.”

The benefit

Soldo transformed urbanbubble’s recharges mechanism. For certain costs, urbanbubble previously paid for it and then recharged its clients for it.

Now, Soldo is linked to client funds. Instead of costs going through urbanbubble and burning through cash flow.

“This improved urbanbubble’s working cash flow by 70%,” Lilon says. “For reconciling transactions at month end, Custom CSV is seamless and very good. It’s great in terms of time saving, our BTR Finance manager saves 2 working days per month.”

As well as the money saved, Lilon notes that it’s the customer service and journey with Soldo that sets it apart.

“If I were to discuss Soldo to a peer, I’d talk about the team. Soldo’s people pull out all the stops for their customers.”

Over the years, Trevi’s innovative tech and crucial business licenses have caught the eye of large investors. With their help, the business has been able to make a mark both domestically and internationally.

The best way to manage business spending

The Trevi Group started using Soldo since 2019, amidst a big company restructure. At first, Trevi was looking for a new, more efficient system to manage expenses. They needed an alternative to petty cash and corporate credit cards to control their travel spending, especially abroad.

The restructure led Trevi to digitise all their admin and financial processes, and to look for automation tools that could save them time and money. Soldo stood out as an end-to-end solution that could not only simplify payments, but also automate reconciliation and reporting.

“With Soldo, you have top-quality reports in real time for complete control over costs and company expenses. The payment cards meet employee needs, and the switch from credit cards transformed our culture.” Corporate Finance and Insurance Manager at The Trevi Group”

Corporate liquidity through ‘obsessive cash management’ is a top priority for Grassi and his finance department. With 95% of their work overseas, managing cash can be challenging due to currency limits or regulations in the countries they operate in.

And when it comes to managing cash, a business spend management platform like Soldo brings multiple advantages.

Features for a smoother month-end

In the manager words: “You can create company cards for department or project spending, but you can also give individual cards to staff who travel often. Soldo supports different currencies which is a bonus, especially abroad.”

Crucially, Soldo also offers a flexible way to divide and organise company money into different ‘wallets’. You can create wallets in multiple currencies and use them to set aside money for specific purposes, users, or cards.

You don’t need to use cash anymore, which makes life easier for finance teams. They can easily track company spend, get real-time reporting, and a smoother month-end. This also gives them a tighter grip on costs, and detailed insights into spending patterns and trends.

The role of tech in the future of finance

Digitising admin processes has become vital for companies seeking growth and expansion into new markets. Innovative spend management tools like Soldo are driving a cultural shift in finance.

Benefits such as enhanced reporting give teams the data they need to optimise budgets and make informed decisions. And automating tasks means less paperwork and less manual effort. Instead, teams can spend more time on strategic work, while reducing the risk of errors and fraud.

As the company has expanded, Trevi has found different uses for Soldo, showcasing its scalability – and proving how technology can help businesses find sustainable growth.