Frances Dickens: How I bartered my way to riches

Frances Dickens was working at a US barter company when she realised the firm needed to make changes to make profits in the UK. Unable to make her bosses listen, she struck out on her own. Now her company, Astus, is set to turn over £60m a year.

Barter is one innovation whose time is long past. Or so you might think. But Frances Dickens, 47, has shown that modern-day bartering isn't just possible it's highly profitable too. Her barter company, Astus, should make £2m profit on £60m of turnover by June this year, as the London-based business turns a "grubby, dodgy process" into one that is not just sought-after, but respectable too.

Brought up in Carshalton, Surrey, daughter to "one of the most significant cancer research scientists of the last century", Dickens failed her GCSEs because she bunked off "after register every afternoon to ride four-legged lunatics for a local horse dealer". After leaving school at 16, she wound up in the advertising industry, joining the UK arm of a US barter company in 1999.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.