World First is a UK-based foreign exchange company. It offers currency exchange

Currency exchange

Currency exchange can refer to:* Bureau de change* Foreign exchange market...

 and international payments to private clients and corporate clients in the UK and a number of other countries.

History and awards

World First was established in 2004 by Jonathan Quin and Nick Robinson.

In April 2008, World First through its subsidiary World First Markets Ltd started to offer option

Option (finance)

In finance, an option is a derivative financial instrument that specifies a contract between two parties for a future transaction on an asset at a reference price. The buyer of the option gains the right, but not the obligation, to engage in that transaction, while the seller incurs the...

 and derivative

Derivative (finance)

A derivative instrument is a contract between two parties that specifies conditions—in particular, dates and the resulting values of the underlying variables—under which payments, or payoffs, are to be made between the parties.Under U.S...

 hedging

Hedge (finance)

A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses that may be incurred by a companion investment.A hedge can be constructed from many types of financial instruments, including stocks, exchange-traded funds, insurance, forward contracts, swaps, options, many types of...

 structures.

On 1 November 2009, World First UK Ltd was granted Authorised Payment Institution status by the Financial Services Authority

Financial Services Authority

The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...

. It was amongst the first round of companies to apply for and be granted this status which ensures client funds are protected from creditors.

World First UK Ltd also became registered by HM Revenue & Customs as a Money Services Business in relation to the execution of spot and forward foreign exchange transactions. Its Registration Number is 12164508.

In 2009 it was named the 53rd fastest growing company in the UK (2009 Sunday Times Fast Track 100) and was awarded the Queen's Awards for Enterprise

Queen's Awards for Enterprise

The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation or sustainable development. They are the highest official UK awards for British businesses...

 (International Trade) 2009.

In 2010 it won "Service Business of the Year" in the Fast Growth Business Awards .

Operations

It is headquartered in Battersea, London and has offices in Australia and New Zealand. It also has representatives in France and Gibraltar. Its SWIFT

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication operates a worldwide financial messaging network which exchanges messages between banks and other financial institutions...

 code is WFSTGB2L.

UK market position

As of June 2011, based on published company accounts it was the 3rd largest foreign exchange company

Foreign exchange companies

A non-bank foreign exchange company also known as foreign exchange broker or simply forex broker is a company that offers currency exchange and international payments to private individuals and companies. The term is typically used for currency exchange companies that offer physical delivery rather...

in the UK by profitAll UK currency brokers must be Authorised as Payment Institutions by the FSA. This list is publicly available on the FSA website. All UK companies must also submit their full accounts to Companies House. The accounts of all the authorised payment institutions were checked with Companies House on the 27th June 2011 to create this list. The UK's Companies House website http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/. Measured by pre-tax profit as turnover is not available for all companies. and 4th largest by Gross Revenue. Turnover to the year ending 31st January 2011 was £1.85 billion.

UK Foreign Exchange Brokers (largest 5):

No.	Company	Accounting Date	Pre Tax Profit
1	TravelexIt is difficult to tell the exact revenue generated by Travelex from their private and corporate foreign exchange due to the number of entities and business areas they have but it has been reported as around £30m for the UK.	Various	£30m approx
2	TTT Moneycorp LtdTTT also has high-street and airport/station bureaux de change. This profit figures includes that profit.	31 August 2010	£6,918,000
3	World First UK Ltd	31 January 2011	£3,612,000
4=	Currencies Direct Ltd	30 June 2010	£3,583,000
4=	HiFX plc	30 June 2010	£3,583,000
6	Schneider Foreign Exchange	31 March 2010	£3,031,925
7	Global Reach Partners Limited (Corporate FX)	31 December 2010	£2,241,000
8	Foreign Currency Direct plc	31 October 2010	£1,742,281
9	Global Currency Exchange Network	31 March 2009	£1,717,169
10	Associated Foreign Exchange (AFEX)	31 December 2010	£1,367,463