Garfield AI Featured in Daily Star as "Genuine Game Changer" for Small Business Debt Recovery

National Newspaper Highlights £7,000 Debt Recovery Success and Expert Praise for AI Platform Making Legal Help Affordable

London, 26 September 2025 – The Daily Star has featured Garfield AI as a "genuine game changer" for small businesses, highlighting the platform's successful recovery of £7,000 for transport consultancy Mayer Brown Limited for less than the cost of a pint in London. The article includes commentary from AI and financial experts who describe the platform as demonstrating "the ingeniousness of AI done right" and a potential solution to the billions trapped in late payments plaguing UK SMEs.

Expert Acclaim: "The Ingeniousness of AI Done Right"

The Daily Star article features strong endorsements from business and technology experts about Garfield's potential impact on small business cashflow challenges.

AI Innovation Expert Perspective

Mitali Deypurkaystha, founder and CEO at Impact Icon AI, praised Garfield's approach: "Garfield AI demonstrates the ingeniousness of AI done right" while also highlighting its limitations. She emphasized the mental burden that debt recovery places on small business owners:

"For small business owners, chasing debts isn't just admin. It's exhausting and demoralising. Garfield AI lifts that mental weight. I also commend the creators for keeping Garfield AI affordable, even for solopreneurs."

Her commentary underscores a crucial insight: the problem of unpaid invoices extends beyond simple financial impact to affect entrepreneurs' wellbeing and ability to focus on growing their businesses.

Financial Services Expert Assessment

Omer Mehmet, managing director at Welling-based Trinity Finance, described the platform as transformative for small businesses:

"Late payments strangle small businesses, and most owners simply don't have the time or money to chase every overdue invoice. An AI tool that can send a compliant legal letter for less than the cost of a pint is a genuine game changer."

He continued: "If it works as promised, it could unlock thousands for SMEs who currently write off debts as 'too small to fight'. Anything that gives entrepreneurs back their cashflow and headspace is a win."

This expert perspective validates Garfield's core value proposition: transforming the economics of debt recovery to make pursuing legitimate claims viable for businesses of all sizes.

The £7,000 Success Story

The Daily Star article prominently featured the real-world success of Mayer Brown Limited, a transport consultancy that became one of the first businesses globally to use legal AI to recover a problematic debt.

The Process

From sign-up to sending a legally compliant Letter Before Action took the firm less than five minutes at a cost of just £7.50 (+VAT)—approximately the price of a pint in a London pub. This stark comparison to traditional legal costs illustrates the platform's accessibility.

The Result

Finance director David Bone shared his experience: "Using Garfield allowed us to successfully recover around £7,000 in outstanding invoices with only a few minutes of work. It is an incredibly effective and efficient tool that has really helped with debt recovery."

This testimonial demonstrates the platform's real-world effectiveness beyond theoretical potential, showing actual results for an actual business facing a concrete problem.

Transparent, Affordable Pricing

The Daily Star article detailed Garfield's pricing structure, emphasizing its accessibility:

• £2 (+VAT) for a polite legal chaser letter
• £7.50 (+VAT) for a formal Letter Before Action
• Around 80% of cases settle at these early stages
• Court claims can be issued electronically through the platform at a fraction of traditional law firm costs
• Many costs recoverable on success

This pricing model makes debt recovery economically viable for even small invoice amounts, addressing a market failure where traditional legal routes price out most SMEs.

Growing Track Record

The article notes that in the past month alone, numerous Garfield users have seen debts paid in full after either Letters Before Action or Court Claim Forms were issued using the AI-powered legal engine.

This growing track record of successful recoveries demonstrates that Garfield's impact extends beyond a single case study to represent a systematic improvement in how small businesses can access legal help.

The £11 Billion Problem

Philip Young, Co-Founder of Garfield AI, contextualized the platform's mission within the broader late payment crisis facing UK businesses:

"Invoices should mean money in your bank, not a line gathering dust on an aged debtors' report. For the first time, SMEs no longer have to shelve plans of chasing outstanding debt just because they are afraid of the upheaval and cost."

He continued: "Too often the time to recover debt can disincentivise SME owners from doing it, but AI collapses the time from hours or even days into minutes."

The Economic Impact

Philip emphasized the economy-wide implications: "Unlocking the £11bn trapped in late payments will be a game-changer for UK business. With a faster, fairer way to recover money owed, entrepreneurs can focus less on chasing debts and more on growing their companies, creating jobs and driving innovation."

This perspective positions Garfield not just as a tool for individual businesses but as infrastructure addressing a systemic economic problem affecting UK competitiveness and growth.

The Broader Late Payment Context

The Daily Star article also provided important context about the scale of late payment problems facing UK small businesses. Mitali Deypurkaystha highlighted a critical distinction:

"The current UK £30bn cashflow logjam persists because FTSE350 giants behave like schoolground bullies, imposing 90–120 day terms that crush smaller suppliers. That's not late payment, that's unethical payment."

She added a sobering observation: "I fear some firms use these terms knowing a percentage of small suppliers will fold, effectively pocketing free goods and services."

This commentary underscores that while Garfield addresses late payment recovery, a broader cultural and regulatory challenge exists around payment terms and practices by large corporations.

Cautious Expert Perspective

The Daily Star article included a note of caution from Kate Underwood, managing director at Kate Underwood HR and Training:

"Debt recovery isn't just admin you can automate, it's law—and law is messy. Shiny new tech won't mean a thing if the process doesn't stand up in court. If that happens, it's not progress, it's just another false hope for small businesses."

This perspective highlights the importance of Garfield's regulatory approval by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the platform's rigorous legal compliance. Unlike unregulated tools, Garfield operates under SRA oversight with legally sound processes designed by experienced litigation lawyers.

Diverse User Base

The article notes that early users range from sole traders to blue-chip companies, and professional services firms including law firms, accountancy practices, and medical firms. This diversity demonstrates Garfield's relevance across business sizes and sectors—anyone facing unpaid invoices can benefit from accessible debt recovery.

National Media Recognition

The Daily Star's coverage represents important mainstream media recognition of Garfield's impact. Unlike specialist legal technology publications, the Daily Star reaches a mass-market audience including many small business owners who represent Garfield's target users.

The article's framing—emphasizing the affordable "price of a pint" comparison and the "game changer" potential—makes Garfield's innovation accessible to readers who may not follow legal technology developments but definitely understand cashflow challenges.

The "Mental Weight" of Unpaid Invoices

Mitali Deypurkaystha's observation that "Garfield AI lifts that mental weight" highlights an often-overlooked dimension of the late payment crisis. Beyond the direct financial impact, unpaid invoices create ongoing stress, distraction, and demoralization for business owners.

Small business owners often describe feeling helpless when customers refuse to pay, knowing that traditional legal routes are uneconomical. This psychological burden affects their ability to focus on business growth and innovation. By making debt recovery accessible and straightforward, Garfield addresses both the financial and mental health dimensions of the late payment problem.

Unlocking Cashflow for Growth

The expert commentary in the Daily Star emphasizes that recovering unpaid invoices does more than balance the books—it unlocks capital that businesses can invest in growth, employment, and innovation.

Omer Mehmet's phrase "gives entrepreneurs back their cashflow and headspace" captures this dual benefit. With money recovered and the stress of unpaid invoices lifted, business owners can redirect their energy and resources toward productive activities rather than chasing debts.

The "Too Small to Fight" Problem

Mehmet's observation about debts currently written off as "too small to fight" identifies a critical market failure. Many legitimate debts go uncollected not because businesses don't have legal rights, but because pursuing claims through traditional routes costs more than the debt's value.

Garfield's pricing model specifically addresses this problem. At £7.50 for a Letter Before Action, even relatively small debts become economically viable to pursue. This transforms the calculus for both creditors (who can now afford to pursue legitimate claims) and debtors (who can no longer assume small debts won't be chased).

Building on Momentum

The Daily Star feature builds on Garfield AI's growing media profile and recognition:

• Featured twice in Bloomberg Law examining AI-powered legal innovation and affordable access to justice
• Spoken at the Royal Society's "AI and the Law" conference alongside senior judiciary
• Demonstrated platform at Legal Services Board event on reshaping legal services
• Included in Ministry of Justice's AI Action Plan as a pioneering case study
• Referenced by Lord Justice Birss as central to access to justice efforts

From Specialist to Mainstream

Garfield's progression from specialist legal technology coverage to mainstream media like the Daily Star reflects growing recognition that AI's impact on legal services extends beyond the legal profession to affect the broader economy and society.

Small businesses reading the Daily Star may have never heard of the Solicitors Regulation Authority or legal technology conferences, but they definitely understand the frustration of unpaid invoices and the relief of recovering money they're owed.

The "Game Changer" Verdict

The Daily Star's headline description of Garfield as a "genuine game changer" reflects expert assessment that the platform represents meaningful innovation rather than incremental improvement. By fundamentally changing the economics of debt recovery, Garfield enables small businesses to access legal remedies previously reserved for larger companies.

This democratization of legal services—making sophisticated legal processes accessible at consumer-friendly prices—represents exactly the kind of innovation that AI's advocates have long predicted but rarely delivered at scale.

Looking Forward

As the Daily Star article notes, Garfield's success in recovering real debts for real businesses validates the platform's approach and demonstrates AI's potential to address genuine economic problems. With hundreds of thousands of pounds in claims already progressing through the platform and growing numbers of successful recoveries, Garfield is moving from promising innovation to proven solution.

The expert commentary featured in the article—from AI innovation specialists, financial services professionals, and HR consultants—reflects recognition across multiple sectors that late payment recovery represents a significant market opportunity and economic challenge that technology can help address.

Read the Full Article

The complete Daily Star article is available at dailystar.co.uk.

About Garfield AI Garfield AI is the world's first AI-driven law firm, approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The platform helps businesses of all sizes recover small debts through transparent, affordable pricing that makes legal help accessible—from £2 for a polite chaser letter to £7.50 for a formal Letter Before Action. Founded by senior City litigation lawyer Philip Young and quantum physicist Daniel Long, Garfield is unlocking billions trapped in late payments and giving UK SMEs back their cashflow and headspace. Visit garfield.law to learn more.

Media Contact: Philip Young, CEO - philip@garfield.law Daniel Long, CTO - dan@garfield.law