Case Study: Essential Living achieves real-time spend control and frees finance time with Pleo

Essential Living - Customer Case Study

Essential Living, led by Finance Director Anthony Hanson, operates residential blocks across London and Maidenhead and prides itself on high tenant service and transparency. They were hampered by outdated expense processes — shared corporate cards, a finance team member spending days each month chasing receipts, and limited visibility into spend — challenges made more acute by COVID-driven needs like buying masks and organising virtual viewings. To address this they adopted Pleo’s corporate cards and expense-management platform.

Pleo implemented virtual and physical cards for property managers plus automated receipt capture and real-time spend visibility, which significantly reduced the time finance staff spent chasing receipts and reconciliations. The tool empowered frontline staff with controlled spending, let Finance monitor and correct behaviour every few days instead of waiting for monthly statements, and freed the team for higher-value work — delivering clear improvements in control, speed of intervention and operational efficiency for Essential Living.

Essential Living

Anthony Hanson

Finance Director