ARR vs. bookings

For a subscription business like Meridian, ARR (annual recurring revenue) is the headline number, not one-time revenue: the value of all active subscriptions, annualized, as if nothing changed for the next twelve months. Bookings is a different number, new contracts signed in a period, which convert into ARR over time as they go live, so a strong bookings quarter and a strong ARR quarter aren't the same thing.

Where growth actually comes from

Growth itself splits into two very different sources. New-customer growth comes from signing logos Meridian didn't have before. Existing-customer growth comes from customers already on the platform buying more (more stores, more seats, a higher-tier plan). Organic growth means both of those, with no acquisitions folded in, a distinction that matters a lot in Lesson 28, when growth becomes something PE is actively trying to engineer, not just observe.

  • Meridian's ARR: £100m
  • Split: roughly 60% from existing-customer expansion, 40% from new logos, worth remembering, because Lesson 8 is about to explain why that 60% is under threat.
Meridian's growth is mostly earned from customers already on the platform, not chased from new logos.

Checkpoint

  • ARR: annualized value of active subscriptions right now.
  • Bookings: new contracts signed, not yet fully reflected in ARR.
  • Organic growth: growth excluding acquisitions, split between new and existing customers.

If anything here still feels unclear, ask before moving to Lesson 8.