In conversation
Inspired by family, backed by dragons: Jayne Sibley shares the experiences that prompted her to found a debit card for vulnerable adults
Jayne Sibley has just received an email that will change her life.
It is December 2019 and a message from the Alzheimer’s Society lands in her inbox. It says the organisation will support an idea she has conceived of creating a debit card for financially vulnerable adults. She goes to Google and types a short sentence: “How do you set up a debit card?”.
Let’s be honest, it’s a course of action most of us would probably take. But Jayne is not only looking to establish a commercial enterprise. Her idea is formulated out of direct personal experience, having spent several years caring for her mum after she was diagnosed with dementia. The story of Sibstar, the company she ultimately founds with husband Martin Orton, begins.
We’re now just over five years on from that first email, and Sibstar is growing in scope and influence. Officially launched in 2023, it was named by Bloomberg among its Top 25 UK Startups to Watch for 2024. Features have followed in national media outlets from The Guardian to BBC Radio 4. Jayne and Martin even ventured into the Dragons' Den, securing a combined £125,000 from investors Deborah Meaden and Sara Davies.
“This business has done nothing but surprise me,” Jayne says. “If you had told me a few years ago that we would start a financial services company … I mean, when I say it wasn’t on the radar, it just so wasn’t! To now be in a world where those people are interested in us is not what I expected at all.”
That’s not to say Jayne hasn’t had previous brushes with the spotlight. Shortly after graduating from our BSc (Hons) Marketing course in 1997, she took a job at The Body Shop. Two years later, she joined the BBC, developing marketing campaigns for iconic shows such as Blue Planet, The Life of Mammals and Strictly Come Dancing. She was also part of the team that propelled CBeebies to success at the 2006 BAFTA Children's Awards.
The difference is that whereas she once shone a light on luminaries like Sir David Attenborough, she is now adjusting to those lights pointing in her direction. It is down to the innovative nature of the company she and Martin have created, increasing awareness of dementia, and the deeply personal stories it is bringing to the fore.
Dad was diagnosed with dementia around 17 years ago. His condition led to bouts of anxiety, depression and volatility, but he has been very well cared for in a high-dependency nursing home for around ten years.
After initially caring for him, mum was then diagnosed herself, but she remained loving, happy and contented. She lived independently, was cared for, and then passed away at home.
Those varied experiences give the Sibstar team a broad degree of empathy when speaking to families now. But it was the particular experiences with her mum – how she would manage her money and be taken advantage of – that prompted the company’s creation.
Having suitably learned – from Google, and partners in the financial sector such as Mastercard – how to set up a debit card, the product they launched to market functions alongside a person’s other bank accounts. It aims to empower individuals, helping them retain an element of financial independence.
At the same time, it enables family members to load the Sibstar card with set amounts of money, averting concerns about overspending and avoiding the possibility of them being taken advantage of.
“We hear stories of people being marched to cashpoints and forced to take out and hand over large sums of cash,” Jayne says. “And this is not a small section of society.
A recent survey suggested 47% of UK adults are financially vulnerable in some way. That includes not only people with dementia, but also those with learning difficulties, recovering from addiction, and other cognitive conditions.”
A key part of Sibstar’s story is that it was founded by, and continues to be developed in partnership with, people with direct experience of the issues it is designed to address.
The market recognition that has followed – from the Alzheimer’s Society and Mastercard, from the Dragons, and from others nationally and internationally – has only served to endorse its social value.
And that direct feedback is something Jayne and Martin hear on an almost daily basis.
In their offices in Southampton, they sit alongside the company’s small customer service team, meaning they can overhear – and engage in – conversations with families.
They also sit in front of a board that embraces phrases used in those conversations – “peace of mind”, “life saver”, “game changer”, “a godsend”.
“We know we are not going to change the world single-handedly – but every conversation we have motivates us, and makes us realise we can be an important cog on that wheel of change.”
This is a journey that started with me and mum, and to hear families appreciating the difference Sibstar is making in their lives is hugely rewarding.
Jayne Sibley