I first met Neil almost 14 years ago. I’m a professional draftsman – I create the drawings for steel-framed buildings. When I was first introduced to Neil, I was operating as a one-man limited company.

At that time, I was not happy with the financial services I was getting from a major high street bank. After a conversation with Neil, I came to the conclusion that he was more clued-up and on my wavelength than any of the other advisers I’d spoken to before. He was interested in what my plans were, my family goals, and what I wanted to achieve, and not just my financial situation.

In that time since we first met, I’ve gone from being a small subcontractor working for various companies, to owning my own business. I was offered the opportunity to take over a company that I was subcontracted to in 2014 and I now own and run it. We employ up to 15 staff and have a partnership with an office in Florida, so all our work comes from America. We do a lot of industrial work, we’ve done airports and we’re on our third Amazon warehouse at the moment, all in America.

My personal financial situation has improved quite a bit in that time too which has given me more disposable income which has allowed me to put more money into pensions and investments and make some life changes. He’s given me a lot of advice.

In 2007, my wife who was a senior community midwife passed away suddenly. I was 44. I found myself on my own with two sons aged ten and twelve. From a security point of view, at the time I lost her, I was working on contracts, and was in and out of work. My wife’s income had given us a great deal of security and our long-term financial plan had been that as her pension was extremely good (she was on a Final Salary Pension scheme), my own personal pension was only really meant as a back up to her hers. When she passed away, I needed to reassess my financial situation. I suddenly became aware of how important it was to secure financial protection for my boys in case anything happened to me.

At an extremely difficult time, Neil was an incredible support. He put security in place to cover every scenario. He helped me think about who would look after my boys if anything happened to me and how I would ensure they had financial security. He set up insurance policies and trust funds; he took care of everything. He did a fantastic job.

Although my wife and I had life insurance and you think you have all eventualities covered you very quickly realise that what you thought was a large sum of money, actually isn’t.

Not only had the household lost my wife’s income, but mine had dropped significantly too, as I was now looking after the boys. Financially, emotionally, it was a very uncertain time. Neil was very much a rock to lean on. He let me know I could talk to him about anything.

In 2010, I met someone else and in 2015, we were married. We are now what is known as a blended family as my wife has two sons as well. Between us, we have four boys now ranging in age from 25 to 17. Neil advised me on how getting married would impact my finances as it meant a change to the pension I’d been receiving from my first wife’s estate and new responsibilities too. We’ve also introduced some financial protection for my stepsons and my second wife’s pension is now managed by Neil, too.

I think when you start a relationship with a financial adviser, most people are a little bit guarded. Financial advisers don’t have the best reputation. People fear they’re just after your money and want to sell you products. But Neil is not a hard sell person; he’s never been pushy. As a result of never feeling pressured by him, I’ve opened up all aspects of my life. He knows everything about my life goals and finances and I really can’t sing his praises high enough. I now consider him to be a friend. Neil has managed all my pensions and investments. Even in this difficult market, my investments have performed extremely well, so much so, that I haven’t lost any money throughout the recent market drop.

I felt it was important to put as much into my pension as possible when the success of my business grew. It’s extremely tax-efficient to make pension contributions so with Neil’s help, I’ve gone back and used up unused allowance from previous years and put the maximum into my pension that is allowed. We’re increasing my wife’s pension as much as possible too and Neil is managing that.

I’m now 57. To feel secure and have the lifestyle that I want in retirement I have a financial target in mind, and with Neil’s help, I am on track to achieve that target three years earlier than I thought. Back in 2007, I was worried that I’d still be working long past normal retirement age. I didn’t know how I would achieve a comfortable retirement for myself as the bulk of my first wife’s pension would only be paid as long as my two sons were in full-time education.

I’m so aware that life is short. Just before I got married to my second wife, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully, she’s now through that and well but it was obviously very scary. My dad had passed due to a brain tumour when he was 58, I was 21 at the time. These life events put things in perspective and have made me want to enjoy life, I want to live for today and plan for tomorrow.

I’m a car nut! My dream has been a Ferrari since I was ten years old! It was the ultimate thing for me but it’s always something I’ve considered to be way out of my reach. It’s been a bit of a running joke between Neil & I. Each year at my annual review, I used to ask, “when can I get my Ferrari?” I used to keep looking and looking and dreaming. Then my wife said, look at what happened to your dad, he never made it to retirement, you could wait until retirement or enjoy life now and fulfil your dream, so I did, I went out and bought one.

Neil was so pleased to see where I’ve been in my life and where I am now. He is very much part of that story. He’s a good friend, but I’m not letting him drive the Ferrari though!

I can’t recommend Neil and the team he has behind him enough. Nothing is too much trouble for Neil and Anna. The whole team is fantastic.