Accounting software platform Xero has launched its first ever TV-led campaign, featuring a voice-over from actor Peter Calpaldi.

The campaign aims to recognise the struggles business owners face and asks them to let Xero take care of the numbers, so owners can keep their businesses moving.

The launch has been timed to coincide with HMRC’s new digital tax rules, Brexit, and rate rises.

This isn’t the first campaign the brand has done around digital tax. Last year Xero created

‘Dexter the Digital Tax Advisor’

to raise awareness of the new legislation.

Xero’s first UK TV commercial

A 30-second TV advert has been created by interactive content agency Brave Spark, alongside print, digital and OOH collateral.

The ad, which aired on Monday (22 April), shows a car tyre being changed while the vehicle is driving on two wheels. Actor Peter Capaldi tells the audience to “Get Making Tax Digital ready”, which is the tagline for the campaign.

Rob Drake, co-founder and creative director at Brave Spark, said the magic of being a small business was figuring things out on the move. “They’re building the plane as it hurtles down the runway, or in this case changing the tyre as it speeds towards the horizon while juggling the practicalities of managing a business, such as the finances. And that’s what Xero are selling. Not just accounting software, but that bit of extra time every business owner needs,” said Drake.

Rob Foulkes, head of small business marketing at Xero, added: “We understand the challenges small businesses are faced with, so we wanted our first TV commercial to dramatise the daily struggle and how Xero can lend a helping hand.