A message from TrueLayer's CEO

I wanted to share a business update regarding some very difficult decisions we have had to take in recent weeks. 

This news was shared internally with our team over the past 24 hours. For transparency to our partners, customers and wider TrueLayer community, we are sharing the email that was sent to staff following our company All Hands meeting.

Dear team,

Thank you to those of you who joined me at this morning’s All Hands. I know that many of you are still surprised and digesting this news. 

For those of you who were unable to join us, please read the below. 

As discussed in our All Hands today, we have had difficult news to share with you. Following a process of debate and looking in detail at the different courses of action, it is with great regret that we’ve decided to reduce our headcount by 10%. 

This is not a decision which we have taken lightly. Nor is it an announcement any CEO or Founder wants to make. 

To those impacted by today’s announcement and to those employees who will see valued colleagues and friends leave the organisation, I recognise how difficult a time this is and take full responsibility for the impact of the decisions we have taken.

Transparency is central to our values and culture, so I’ll set out the rationale and context behind today’s announcement and provide some detail on the process which led us to today.

As you know, we set ourselves the ambitious goal of “changing the way the world pays”, and we’ve made great strides over the past twelve months: we’ve seen significant growth in our payment volumes and in our client base, alongside outstanding feedback from customers and enthusiasm for our product roadmap.

For these reasons, I completely understand that today’s announcement may appear counterintuitive. You may understandably ask what has changed in the past twelve months. We are now operating in a very different context and more challenging market conditions. TrueLayer, while being in a position of strength, is not immune to these broader factors. 

With our focus being firmly on the path to profitability, monetisation, and sustainable growth, it is my responsibility to give the company the maximum amount of time to deliver on our strategy in this changed economic environment. 

We have looked carefully at our company structure and endeavoured to act quickly and decisively, to put us on the best possible path. 

In approaching this difficult decision, we have been guided by two key principles: do what’s right for TrueLayer’s long-term success and treat our people fairly, with gratitude and respect.

As we’ve followed this process, we’ve carefully considered the roles that are going to be most important for us to succeed and have acted to mitigate the impact of today’s announcement as far as possible by looking at opportunities to consolidate and align between teams, as well as improving operational efficiency. This process has not been limited to one team, but has taken a whole-organisation approach.

After today’s meeting, those affected will be invited to a one-to-one meeting with a member of the leadership team so that we can explain the next steps of the process and what we will be doing to support you. Our aim throughout is to treat you with the gratitude, dignity, fairness and respect that you deserve.

With that in mind, we have designed an exit package with a commitment to being as generous as we possibly can to help you move forward – including salary to cover notice periods and an additional number of months based on period of service, 3 months’ of employer pension contributions, extended access to your health insurance, and mental health support. 

It is important to recognise that the future success of TrueLayer will also be thanks to the work of the people leaving today and we have made changes to our employee options plans for those affected to reflect this, so that TrueLayer’s future growth continues to benefit them, too.

One of the most impactful things TrueLayer can do is to meaningfully help connect you with job opportunities. We are leveraging our network to fast track this process, and have also arranged for opt-in outplacement support including interview preparation, CV review and coaching to be available.

To those of you who are leaving us - I’m truly sorry that your chapter with TrueLayer is ending so abruptly. Please know that this is in no way a reflection on your contribution. I am sincerely grateful that you chose to join TrueLayer and want to thank you for all that you’ve given to the company.

To our team who are staying – I know the loss of your teammates is going to be emotional and that you will have many questions. We will have to spend time over the next few months to move forward as a team. As we work through these difficult conversations today, please respect your teammates’ privacy but be supportive where you can.

I understand that many of you will have further questions. We will be organising time to ensure you can put your questions to the leadership team over the coming days and discuss today’s announcement in more detail. 

Thank you

Fra