Pleo brings the craft of finance to life through collaboration with British typographic artist, Pref
Pleo’s new brand comes to life in central London, with an anamorphic art installation celebrating the judgement behind every financial decision
Pleo, the most trusted financial platform for European businesses, has been rolling out its evolved brand with “For the craft of Finance”, a campaign celebrating the experience, skill and judgement of finance leaders.
This week, the campaign centrepiece comes to life, through a public art installation outside Paddington Station in London, created in partnership with British typographic artist Pref, alongside creative agencies The Romans and 1901.
The installation uses layered typography across a number of surfaces that is obscured from most angles but resolves into a clear message from the right perspective. The idea behind it is simple: CFOs have the ability to find clarity in chaos. They apply experience, context and judgement to incomplete or excessive information, providing clarity for complex decisions, and the artwork celebrates that.
The campaign is grounded in new research from Pleo, which surveyed 400 UK CFOs. The findings show how much rests on finance leaders’ judgement. Almost all (98.5%)1 have spotted something in financial data that other senior decision-makers missed, changing a major business decision as a result. More than half (53%) regularly make major decisions when information is incomplete, conflicting or points to no single answer, and nearly half (48%) regularly overrule financial models based on their own judgement2.
That judgement carries real weight. Six in ten CFOs (61%)3 give their professional judgement at least as much weight as financial data when making major decisions. Yet 60% believe other business leaders underestimate the complexity of financial decision-making.
AI is making finance noisier than ever. Tools that generate multiple dashboards and forecasts can produce an overwhelming amount of data, but that doesn’t necessarily lead to more clarity. In many cases, clarity for decision-making requires less data, that is of better quality and pulled as close to real time as possible. It doesn’t just mean more of everything. Finance teams need to consider which data actually matters for the decision in front of them. The finance team’s role is shifting away from producing numbers and towards cutting through complexity, exercising judgement, and helping the business decide what matters.
“For the Craft of Finance” marks a new chapter for Pleo. Its September rebrand introduced a refreshed identity, created by Porto Rocha and Pleo’s Brand team, reflecting the company’s shift from expense tracking to financial business strategy. Its central idea is clarity through reduction and is designed to carry across Pleo’s new agentic tools, which automate routine approvals and surface only the exceptions that need attention. The brand refresh launched alongside an advertising campaign with Scholz and Friends, and this new installation continues to build on that work, celebrating the judgement, experience and discipline that makes a strategic finance leader.
The brand’s key elements now include geometric stripes inspired by marked-up spreadsheets-the fundamental tool of finance, a fresher, more energetic pink that anchors the identity and Pleo Scandi Gellix, a bespoke typeface that nods to the company’s Danish roots.
“Finance is a discipline that rarely gets the recognition it deserves.” said Amanda Calvo Malmberg, Director of Brand & Experience Strategy at Pleo. “CFOs are asked to make, and stand behind, important strategic calls based on incomplete data. We wanted to bring that often unseen expertise to life in a way people could experience for themselves, right in the middle of one of London’s busiest transport hubs.
“The installation works the same way: it’s hard to read from most angles and only makes sense from the right perspective. Our job is to give them the tools to see their business finances clearly and the confidence to act on what they see.”
The installation is on display outside Paddington Station, London, from 11th-12th November, 2026.
Research methodology
The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 400 CFOs in the UK, aged 25+. The data was collected between 28.09.26 – 05.10.26. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.
[1] All ‘Yes’ options combined.
[2] ‘Always’ and ‘Often’ options combined.
[3] ‘I give financial data and my own experience and judgement roughly equal weight’, ‘I rely more on my own experience and judgement than financial data and analysis’ and ‘I rely almost entirely on my own experience and judgement’ options combined.
Previous Pleo research taken from an online survey conducted by Sapio Research, on behalf of Pleo, among a sample of 500 finance professionals working in the finance department and financial decision makers across the UK. Data was gathered in December 2024 and January 2025.
About Pleo
Pleo is Europe’s first and most trusted spend platform for financial strategists, meticulously built by ex CFO Jeppe Rindom to put an end to fragmented finance. Scattered tools and manual processes result in time waste, compromised data, and compliance risk. Pleo empowers finance to focus their specialism where it matters.
Trusted by over 40,000 businesses across 16 markets, including Unity, Lyst, IDC and HelloFresh, Pleo unifies every aspect of company spending in one place. Smart cards, automated expenses, invoice payments, subscription management, real-time spend categorisation, and cash management: all connected, all visible, all built specifically for how European businesses operate.
Pleo integrates with over 100 accounting and workspace tools, giving finance teams the real-time visibility and AI workflow automation they need to lead with clarity, control, and confidence in every decision.
Powering billions of euros in spending each year, and having secured a record-breaking Series C in 2021, Pleo continues to set the standard for how finance leads and drives business growth across Europe and beyond. The company is funded by Kinnevik, Creandum, Stripes, Seedcamp, Founders A/S, Alkeon Capital Management, Bain Capital Ventures, Coatue Management, and Thrive Capital.
About Pref
Pref is a British typographic artist who grew up in west London, where the 1990s graffiti scene inspired him to experiment with lettering on London’s streets. Today, he creates typographic murals and studio works that explore how we read and interpret letters. His layered, overlapping letters slow down the act of reading, while his recent wordplay series often strips away colour to focus on the structure and visual appearance of letters.
Pref is also associated with Beyond the Streets, live at London’s Saatchi Gallery this November 2026.
