Frank’s story

Our involvement with Alexandra’s began around 18 years ago. Initially, we wanted to minimise Inheritance Tax liabilities, formalise a pension for my wife and put together a tax-efficient savings plan.

My first degree was in politics and economics, so I had a reasonable understanding of the markets, I had been handling our financial affairs on an ad hoc basis. However, due to their increasing complexity, I recognised that I needed someone who had more expertise and experience than me and had the time to devote to securing our financial future.

Primarily, we were looking for somebody we could trust. We had experienced a handful of other Financial Advisers and we had discovered that trustworthiness wasn’t something you could take for granted.

Secondly, we were looking for expertise when it came to markets and savings opportunities. I was looking for someone who had more knowledge than I had myself and very quickly we discovered that Neil’s knowledge was far more superior to any other advisers we had met.

Up until 2007, I had a career in human resources, culminating in Director level positions in HR for major blue-chip companies with global remits. By 2007, my wife and I were looking to improve our quality of life, I had been travelling around the world and wanted to see more of life than just the inside of an airport lounge and offices.

Around this time, we had set up a company to manage the property we owned, but for the first year, we had not been able to devote the time necessary to develop it. The death of my mother-in-law and the desire for an improved quality of life sparked us into thinking that maybe we should focus more of our attention on this new business. We sat down with Neil and analysed the numbers. The cashflow modelling he took us through gave us the confidence we needed to push ahead with our plans so, in 2008, I left my HR position and put everything into the new business.

Along with our accountant, Neil helped us to formulate a strategy to take the company forward and ensure we had enough money to do what we wanted to do. Neil acts as a non-shareholding director for the business providing tax, financial and business advice to the company, helping us enhance our business.

In 2012 we formulated a plan to build a new house in our existing garden. Neil used his expertise to ensure we had enough cash to fund the whole project and invest the money we made from the sale of the old house into savings plans. His strategy all the way through has helped us maximise our profits ensuring our financial security.

As a client, I’m never made to feel like I’m just a number, I’m always made to feel like I’m important to Neil and his team. It is a testament to Neil’s ability that he has attracted people to Alexandra’s who provide a good service in terms of responsiveness and motivation in helping their clients. They understand the importance of getting things right, first time every time. In the unlikely event there is a problem, it is corrected quickly. In my opinion, this is the difference between good and exceptional customer service.

I am always reassured by the modesty of the Alexandra’s offices. I was a member of two pension trustee boards in my previous roles and would visit finance houses. They would have amazing offices in the City, often prompting me to wonder how much of the fund was spent on financing their sumptuous offices and how much was invested in the employees’ pension funds. With Neil, I never see that as his offices are comfortable and welcoming, but there are no overt ego displays.

We wanted a Financial Planner we could trust, and we believe we have that in Neil. However, there is something else too; Neil’s values are close to ours, in terms of his approach to life. It is not all about making money, of course, financial security is important, but it is also important how you achieve it. This has been a key element in shaping our relationship.

I have recommended him to at least two good friends of ours and if I wasn’t sure of his trustworthiness, I wouldn’t be doing that.