“I help clients get to where they want to be – and stay there.”
Most people in financial services will tell you they fell into it. However, I didn’t. From the age of 13 or 14, I knew I wanted to be a financial adviser. A careers adviser handed me a book listing roles within finance – bank manager, insurance broker, accountant, financial adviser – and I did my research. Financial planning was the one and from that point, everything I did was geared towards it: a business studies course, a financial services degree, and an admin role at an independent financial adviser (IFA) firm to understand the job from the ground up before I’d even qualified.
I’ve been in the industry since 2001. After qualifying, I spent a decade in banking, which gave me strong foundations in training and client advice before the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) led the bank to step away from financial advice entirely. I then moved into the wealth advisory sector – first self-employed, then with a number of firms – before joining what is now Mattioli Woods in November 2024. Each move brought me closer to what I’ve always wanted to do: the opportunity to make a positive impact to people’s lives.
Being an experienced financial planner and due to lending my expertise across all areas of financial advice such as investments, pensions, tax planning, estate planning, individual protection and business protection. I have become quite the ‘renaissance man’ within this area of specialism. The most rewarding aspect for me is fulfilling both clientele needs and the ability to provide creative solutions to real life complex cases.I had a client who thought she was five years away from being able to retire – but when we looked at her situation, she could retire far sooner than she’d ever imagined. She’s now doing exactly what she wanted: holidays, time with her grandchildren and trips to the theatre. She’d been planning for a future she could already have. Some of my longest-standing clients have followed me across firms over the years – that kind of loyalty tells you more than any review ever could.
One area I find particularly compelling right now is Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning. Frozen allowances and rising property values are quietly drawing more and more clients into a significant IHT liability – often without them realising it. With pensions now set to form part of taxable estates, the planning required is becoming more complex, but that complexity is exactly what I enjoy. It’s both a technical challenge and a deeply personal one: helping clients ensure that what they’ve worked hard to build genuinely passes to the people they love.
Outside of work, I’m an active person and a committed sports spectator. I run regularly and train in Muay Thai – a discipline I took up with my daughter after lockdown, and we earned our yellow belts together. I’m also a proud netball dad, which means most weekends involve travelling to matches and cheering from the sidelines. The deliberate planning I applied to my career extends here too: the same commitment, the same consistency, just applied to keeping fit and making the most of time with family.
