Interview • Portraits • Members
"Next year is all about proving the scale with our current team to reach 80% year-on-year growth." - in conversation with Quentin Debavelaere, COO of Malt
Quentin Debavelaere shares his experience of relocating to London and leading Malt's UK operations. From the challenges of settling in a new country to the differences in business culture, Quentin offers valuable advice for professionals expanding internationally.
Please tell us more about your professional experience. Why did you settle in the UK as a French professional?
I joined Malt in 2015 as COO and was in charge of expanding the company internationally, starting with Spain in 2017, Germany in 2019, and the Benelux in 2021. I did all that from Paris with a lot of travel. But, when we launched in the UK, my partner and I decided to relocate to London. In my industry, the UK is the largest market by far. The freelance economy is 2,5x bigger than in France - it’s a £100bn opportunity or one-third of the entire European market!
If you really want to succeed internationally as a company, you need to relocate some managers. My CEO spent two years in Munich, our CFO spent two years in Berlin, and I would have spent my life in Eurostar if I hadn’t settled in the UK.
What were your challenges when you came to the UK and how did you face them?
Well, the first challenge was getting here in the first place. It took six months for our company to get a licence to sponsor my VISA. The team did an incredible job, but it was just a complex and lengthy process.
Then I discovered when moving here that British people tend to plan well ahead for everything: plane tickets, hotels and…nurseries! I contacted 40 nurseries six months before moving in and only found a seat in two of them. Finding accommodation could have been a nightmare, but I was fortunate enough to have friends from university who helped me find the perfect place. Fun fact: The housing market is pretty wild compared to Paris (no cap on rent, eviction without cause, etc.). Then, the usual stuff: how does healthcare work? What mobile network to choose? Which bank? Honestly, the best way to navigate these challenges is by simply asking around and not being afraid of stupid questions.
Professionally, I didn’t change jobs, so it was easier to settle. However, the work culture in the UK is slightly different. I remember when I had to cancel a 1-1 - I asked my teammate to reschedule for lunch and received an invitation for a 30-minute slot at noon. I was really puzzled, I asked him if it was a mistake, and he meant 90 minutes. He answered, “Ah, you meant a proper luncheon, French style?”
What’s on the horizon for next year? For your company and business in general?
We have done a lot of groundwork in the last couple of years to really understand the market, test our value proposition, and define our priority segments. Next year is all about proving the scale with our current team to reach 80% year-on-year growth. If we succeed, we will then massively increase our investments and potentially acquire a local company to accelerate our expansion.
The mission is to reach £1bn in sales in the next 6-7 years, so there is no time to waste!
What advice would you give to a French entrepreneur who wants to settle in the UK?
- Grab a coffee or plan a Zoom call with entrepreneurs who switched over the last couple of years to get concrete, actionable tips.
- Be mindful that being too direct can be rude to Britons (feedback, etc).
- If a client says your offer is interesting and they will look into it, don’t expect a call until hell freezes over. It means no.
- UK is not cheap… but it gets extremely expensive with kids.
- British people are not used to receiving invites for lunch or dinner at your place ;)
- You can be stuck in a loophole without proof of address, so get your electricity contract under your name and water contract under your partner’s name to make sure you both can get bank accounts, mobile numbers, etc.
- With e-sims, you can now have both your historical French number and a UK number on the most recent mobile phones.
- I have lots of small tips like that, and there is still a lot more to learn :)
What do you hope to get from your French Chamber membership this year?
My main objective is to network professionally and personally. It’s always very enriching to discuss current trends with leaders from so many different organisations and backgrounds during the Chamber of Commerce events.
Malt is a platform that connects businesses with freelancers, finding the perfect match for every project.