Employee Benefits Consultant
Adrian Firth
In 2015, Adrian joined Mattioli Woods as an Employee Benefits Consultant.
“No selling, no jargon, just the facts about how to create your own financial plan.”
Before joining Mattioli Woods, I spent ten years with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial regulator. I worked on financial education initiatives that later became the Money Advice Service, and played an active role in the Retail Distribution Review – the biggest shake-up the advice industry had seen in a generation. This experience gave me a deep, inside-out understanding of what proper financial planning actually looks like, and why it matters.
Before the FCA, I spent about 20 years in banking, working for HBOS (Lloyds Banking Group), Santander and Yorkshire Building Society. So, by the time I joined Mattioli Woods in 2015, I’d seen the industry from almost every angle. Today, I channel all of that into one clear purpose: helping people understand their finances so they can make confident decisions.
My role is a little different from a traditional adviser. I deliver financial education webinars and seminars – speaking to thousands of employees each year – on topics ranging from pension planning and employee benefits to long-term financial wellbeing. My job is to take genuinely complex subjects and make them feel manageable, wherever someone is on their financial journey, from a young employee getting to grips with their first pension to someone on the cusp of retirement trying to make the most of everything they’ve built.
There are no silly questions when it comes to money. Financial planning has become more complex than ever, and it’s my job to cut through that complexity, not add to it. Whether you’re in a room of 500 people or sitting down one to one, the aim is always the same: for them to leave feeling clearer and more in control than when they arrived.
I’m based in Huddersfield with my wife and three children, and outside of work, you’ll find me at parkrun on a Saturday morning, at my local church on a Sunday, or making the most of my latest midlife indulgence – a growing collection of motorbikes.
If your organisation wants financial education that actually sticks, I’d love to hear from you.
