On Monday it was 34 years since I joined FPC! I remember it well as it was Black Monday, the day stock markets fell ‘faster than a sky diver without a parachute’ in my honour! I wondered what the heck I was doing, coming from a safe job with Procter and Gamble to finding myself sat opposite the tip in Formby as stock markets tumbled!
Yesterday, our founding partner, Mark Ralphs gave me a lovely note paying tribute to our time together, which I very much appreciated. Mark gave me the opportunity to learn from the bottom up, with no pressure or preconceptions and supported me through all of life’s trials and tribulations; motherhood and what seemed like never ending studying; ultimately paying me the greatest compliment by asking me to be his business partner. It was, and has been a bit like being married! We have spent more time together over those years than with our families and although we’ve had tough times along the way, it’s been pretty awesome and I have absolutely no regrets about putting my faith in him and FPC.
Throughout my time at FPC, I’ve tried to emulate the support that Mark gave me, so much of how we strive to work with the team is down to him! It is my privilege to have helped build, and now lead one of the most talented financial planning teams in the UK and I’m proud to say that they are dedicated to sharing their knowledge and experience with each other, with clients and beyond.
And of course I have to acknowledge the role that our clients have played in my professional development during the last 34 years too! It’s been a privilege to have supported them and I’ve learned as much from them as I could from any formal study.
Next year is FPC’s 40th anniversary and we are proud of the small part we have played over that time to help transform our industry into a profession. But there is still a long way to go to raise awareness of the value of financial planning, particularly within the younger generation.
Following on from the team’s work in local schools, they have gone on to present a series of workshops on financial literacy to BPP University Law School students which we have shared in the hope we can bust a few myths and spread the word about financial planning at the same time.
Going forward, we plan to continue to extend our support to the next generation and hopefully attract more talent into our profession and ultimately into FPC, as we continue to invest in our team.
To view the BPP financial literacy presentations or read our Planners’ blogs for the four talks, covering a range of subjects, visit our News section…
