About RQ — our mission to fix professional referrals

About RQ

RQ was founded in 2021 by Johnny Ridd to solve a problem he saw across UK professional services: firms were generating significant revenue through referral relationships, but managing them informally — via email, spreadsheets, and word of mouth. This created compliance risk, lost revenue, and no visibility into one of a firm's most valuable growth channels.

RQ is a referral management platform purpose-built for regulated firms — accountants, financial advisers, solicitors, and corporate finance advisers. It helps firms send, manage, and track referrals with built-in compliance, clear tracking, and real visibility across the firm.

Trust and security

• ISO 27001:2022 certified — independently audited information security management (view certificate)
• UK-based — founded and headquartered in London
• Regulatory expertise — built alongside ICAEW, with deep understanding of FCA, SRA, and DPB requirements
• Nearly 1,000 firms trust RQ to manage their referral relationships

Leadership

Johnny Ridd, CEO and founder. Johnny built RQ after seeing how professional services firms struggled to manage referrals at scale. He works closely with regulators including ICAEW to ensure RQ meets the highest compliance standards for regulated firms.

Our mission

To make referrals compliant by default, efficient by design, and valuable by outcome — so that every introduction between professionals is easy, safe, and measurable.