Business as usual
We had hoped not to be writing to you from another Lockdown situation, but here we are again. Whilst we understand it’s hard for many, we are fortunate to be well set up working from home. We had started to return to the office and managed one whole day together as a team. However, the government advice changed, and we were advised to return to working from home, if we could, and then the new Lockdown came into place.
We want to reassure you that even during Lockdown situations we are still here to help. Although our physical office may be closed, we are very much open for business and just a phone call or email away. It may not be the best situation, but we’re here for you and have lots of positive news to share.
Team news
The biggest news is that we have a new member of staff – Amy Mortimer. Amy has joined us as a Technical Specialist to support Nicola and Clare. She has been with us for a couple of weeks now and has very much hit the ground running, sitting in on a client meeting on only her second day! You can get to know her a little better here – Amy Mortimer.
We also have some other very exciting news to share. Clare will be taking some time off from 24th November. She is soon to be a new mum and we are so excited for her. We know you’ll all join us in wishing Clare and her husband well and we can’t wait to share a picture of “baby” with you in December!
Welcoming New Amy (as she is now officially known) and with Clare shortly leaving for her maternity leave, we managed to have a socially distanced team get-together, luckily just before the new restrictions were announced. We went to Pot-en-ciel for pottery painting. It was a couple of hours of relaxed fun where we could catch up on the non-work news and just enjoy being a team together. We may not be artists but we’re pretty proud of what we painted – what do you think?
Of course a team update isn’t complete without mentioning Bertha! She joined the Watts family in August and by all accounts, is keeping Poppy on her toes. She is already nearly as big as her sister and we suspect she is going to end up dwarfing Poppy. We’re looking forward to when we are able to be back in the office and you can all meet her.
Awards and accreditations
We’re very proud to announce that for the sixth consecutive year, we have been recognised in New Model Adviser Top 100. New Model Adviser, a financial services industry publication, uses independent external support, AKG Consultants, to verify their process for deciding who makes the list. Reviewing applications from hundreds of firms across the UK, they assess data around key areas including well qualified staff, robust investment propositions, excellent client service, good use of technology and contribution to professional standards. We’re delighted to be within the top 100 again.
Nicola has also achieved reassessment and qualification of British Standards ISO 22222. This is an international standard for providing financial planning. She is understandably very proud to hold this award as one of only a small number of financial planners in the UK. I’m sure you’ll all appreciate that Nicola is never one for standing still and this successful reassessment confirms her commitment to continued growth and improvement, not only for herself, but for the team, the business and for our clients.
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