Who we are

The family behind Pimpernel.

A British family who actually made the move to France — and built the guide we wish we'd had. Every word here is human-written, checked against the official sources, and kept current. Here's exactly how →

Pimpernel exists because we needed it and it didn't exist. We're Will and Jenny. A few years ago we did the thing you might be thinking about: packed up a British life, moved the whole family to France, and found that the gap between the dream and the paperwork is roughly the size of the Channel. We've owned in the Tarn-et-Garonne for over two years and lived here full-time for sixteen months — long enough to have made most of the mistakes, recent enough to remember exactly how each one felt. We got through it the way we get through most things: by just keeping going until the job's done. This is the site that means you won't have to do it blind.

Who's actually writing this

Will

Co-founder · did the admin so you don't have to

Before France, Will spent his career in the motor industry — sales-operations management at Volvo and at Mercedes-Benz's head office. Which is a long way of saying he's spent years turning tangled, high-stakes processes into something ordinary people can actually follow. France is a much older thread than the recent move, mind — Will lived in Paris for a couple of years back in the nineties, long before the family made it permanent. He's the optimistic, jocular half of the operation: good at politics, diplomacy and reading how relationships really work — a skill he cheerfully admits bounces clean off a French bureaucrat, but earns its keep most other places. He did the bulk of the admin so you won't have to, and the part that tested him hardest was the VLS-TS long-stay visa — the UK end of it especially, which is precisely why our visa guides are as thorough as they are.

Jenny

Co-founder · the more sensible half

Jenny trained professionally as a ballet dancer before a career as a corporate executive assistant. She's the detail one: a laser focus on the specifics, the timescales and the deadlines that quietly decide whether a French move runs smoothly or falls over at the last hurdle. She's also the glue — the gentle matriarch who keeps the rest of the menagerie, human and otherwise, pointed roughly the same way. Nothing here would work without her, and most of what does work is because she checked it twice.

The promises we keep

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The guides are free, forever. No account, no wall. The information that helps you decide and prepare costs you nothing.

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Depth over checklists. We'd rather explain one thing properly than list twenty. Every guide is written to actually get you through the task.

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Honesty over hype. We'll tell you when something's easy, when it's a slog, and when you don't need to pay anyone at all — us included.

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Checked, and dated. Every serious guide shows when it was last reviewed and links to the official source. See how we check →

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A human when it counts. When something high-stakes has to be right, a real person — us — will look at yours.

What we don't do

Just as important as what we help with. We're navigators, not the professionals themselves — and pretending otherwise would be the quickest way to lose the trust this whole site is built on.

We won't

give you regulated legal, tax or immigration advice, or represent you before the French administration.

We will

help you understand the process, decode the letters, sequence the steps, and see clearly whether you need a professional at all.

When you do

we'll say so plainly — and point you toward specialists worth their fee.

The cast

Pimpernel is a small family operation in every sense. The full complement, at last count:

Willdid the admin so you don't have to

Jennythe other, more sensible half

The childrennow correct our French

The dogsunpaid morale

The catsunbothered

The chickenswe've stopped counting

The donkeyswe did not plan on the donkeys

Come and use the thing we built.

Start with a free guide, build yourself a personalised plan, or let us take the high-stakes bits off your plate.

See what you need to do next →