Powerchex long voyage to a working vision

Back in 2005, Alexandra had just one assistant, who made 50 calls a day from April to June, before they secured the coup of one of the world's largest insurers.

Now the company has a staff of 36, about 400 clients and is valued at around £3million.

"I was a lot more carefree back then," said the 46-year-old mother of two, recalling the first few months.

"I was more worried when I knew we were going to succeed and I wondered where the money would come from for growth.

"It was more like a game. Something I wanted to pursue."

The story of how Alexandra arrived in Wapping to start the company is one of accident rather than design.

She was born in the Greek capital Athens, but moved to New York in the mid-'80s to study.

She began working in the city, where she also met the man she would marry, Paul and, following the wedding they decided to quit their jobs to sail the world in a 37-foot yacht.

In 2000, they ran out of money and Alexandra became pregnant.

They decided to settle in the nearest English-speaking country, which happened to be England, and specifically St Katherine's Docks.

After the birth, the couple opted to stay in Docklands and Alexandra took a job in operational risk management in the City.

She also began working weekends to build a business plan for the Powerchex model but it was only after she was made redundant that the plan was put into action.

She said: "I was made redundant at a very good time. I got a bit of money, which helped. A lot people want to start a business but keep putting it off, but this gave me a push.

"I committed a certain amount of money to it and thought that when it ran out I would decide if it would really happen.

"I saw a gap in the market but so did other people and a number of firms were set up in the same year.

"The difference with us was, with my background, we would specialise in financial services. I saw we would be viewed as the expert in that sector."

Alexandra's severance pay ran out just as the company was getting going.

But she was so encouraged by response from customers, the couple decided to liquidate their pension plans and invest in the business.

With extra support from an HSBC business loan, Powerchex was turning in a profit 12 months after it was established.

Then came the crossroads for Alexandra when she was offered £3million for the business from a large American company.

She ended up rejecting it and the recession followed soon after.

She said: "I thought about the offer for a while but I don't regret not accepting it. The recession ended up being a very good time.

"We were going at such speeds of growth we were running the risk of burning out. I was so stressed.

"All of a sudden things like the infrastructure would need upgrading and you would have to work all weekend putting in another server.

"When the recession came it slowed that down, but we were still profitable."

Powerchex looks into credit and criminal records, employment history, references and a number of other areas for prospective employers.

The culture of pre-employment checks has boomed since 9/11.

While companies were hiring fewer people following the recession, they still needed temporary staff.

This as well as the reputation of Powerchex has seen it grow through the recent crisis.

Staff numbers are likely to hit 40 in the coming weeks - it is currently at 36 - as the company returns to pre-recession figures.

And in June Powerchex won business of the year at the Docklands Business Club Awards, to add to a host of trophies won over its relatively short lifespan.

"I think the financial services industry is so small if you do a good job you get a good reputation," said Alexandra.

"We've managed to take business off our competitors. And in the financial services area we are the leaders. Where we go, others follow.

"We're up to seventh largest in the employment checks sector but we expect to be the third largest in the UK by 2012."