TruFin acquires Rockford to expand payment recovery services

Financial technology group TruFin has expanded its payment recovery operations through the acquisition of Rockford Associates by its subsidiary Oxygen Finance, bringing specialist overpayment auditing capabilities into a business already established in supplier payment services.

Oxygen has acquired the entire issued share capital of Rockford for an initial cash payment of £1.8m. A further £200,000 may become payable if the acquired business achieves agreed earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation targets during the fourth quarter.

The acquisition has been completed using TruFin’s existing cash resources, with the consideration calculated net of cash acquired. The additional payment remains dependent on Rockford’s financial performance rather than forming an unconditional part of the purchase price.

Rockford specialises in examining previous financial transactions to identify amounts that organisations have paid unnecessarily. Its auditing services cover duplicate supplier payments, VAT errors, unclaimed account credits and potentially fraudulent transactions, with the objective of identifying and recovering funds.

These audits focus on payments already made, drawing on purchasing records, supplier statements and other financial information. Recoveries depend on identifying genuine discrepancies and establishing whether the relevant amounts can be reclaimed, rather than treating every irregular transaction as a confirmed financial loss.

Oxygen already provides overpayment auditing to many of its early payment customers, but the service has previously been delivered through an external provider. The acquisition brings that capability in-house, allowing Rockford to undertake audits for existing customers of both businesses.

Founded in 2002, Rockford serves more than 60 active clients across housing, healthcare, education, local government and the private sector. Returning customers account for more than 80% of its revenue, demonstrating the importance of repeat engagements within its existing commercial operation.

The acquired business complements Oxygen’s established work in supplier payments. Oxygen operates programmes under which participating suppliers can receive payment earlier than their normal contractual terms in exchange for a pre-agreed rebate, calculated according to how much the payment is accelerated.

For purchasing organisations, those programmes provide a structured method of making earlier payments while receiving rebates from participating suppliers. The supplier receives funds sooner, without having to sell its invoice to a separate finance provider, while the customer continues to manage the payment directly.

Overpayment auditing provides a separate service because it examines historic transactions rather than accelerating settlement of current invoices. The two activities nevertheless involve financial records, supplier relationships and payment administration, allowing Oxygen to offer additional services to organisations already using its payment programmes.

Oxygen’s existing operations provide an established customer base for the acquired business. At the end of 2025, it had 65 early payment clients after securing four new contracts and renewing seven existing agreements during the year.

Its early payment programmes processed £1.4bn of spending in 2025, involving 5,862 participating suppliers. The business reported £16.2m in rebates generated for public sector customers during that year, with those figures relating specifically to early payment operations rather than Rockford’s auditing services.

Oxygen also provides procurement intelligence software and associated services. The group’s existing relationships with public sector purchasing organisations give it opportunities to introduce overpayment auditing to customers already using its financial technology products.

Vicki Sloane, chief executive of Oxygen, said Rockford’s experience and customer relationships complement the existing business and create opportunities to expand its overpayment auditing activities.

TruFin expects Rockford to make a positive contribution to group earnings from its first full year of ownership. The company has not disclosed the acquired business’s annual revenue, operating profit or anticipated value of future recoveries, making the earnings contribution a forward-looking expectation rather than a quantified result.

Rockford will continue serving its own customers while providing overpayment audits to Oxygen’s early payment clients. The completed acquisition gives Oxygen direct control of a specialist service it previously obtained externally, supported by Rockford’s established customer base and auditing operations.