Jane Smith Financial Planning has been providing expert financial advice for the last 30 years. That’s 30 years of delivering genuine lifestyle transformations for the people of Buckinghamshire and beyond.
Since 1994, we’ve drawn on the highest level of qualified expertise to provide meaningful, expert financial advice and planning to all our clients. Our mission is to help you relax, knowing that the future is secure for you and your family. And, as we approach a milestone birthday, this mission remains the same as ever.
And so, to celebrate entering our fourth decade, here’s your guide to a brief history of Jane Smith Financial Planning and a sneak peek at our plans for the next 30 years!
Jane Smith started the business back in 1994
As many of you will know, Jane Smith – mother of current director Nicola Watts – started the business as part of a network, in 1994.
At this point, Jane had already established a successful career in financial services and brought many of her existing clients over to her new venture. Not only that, but many of those clients are still with us today!
These ongoing – and often intergenerational – relationships are important to us, but they also help you to get the most out of the service we provide.
Jane began with a mission to provide meaningful and expert financial planning, ensuring that our clients could relax in the present, safe in the knowledge that their future was secure.
It’s that mission that we are still building on today.
Nicola joined the business in 2000
The millennium was an important time for Jane Smith Financial Planning. It saw Nicola enter the fold, meaning that she is now approaching an important Jane Smith Financial Planning anniversary.
This marked the start of a period of growth and change for the business, during which we moved away from the network model, became directly authorised and changed name.
Truly a family business, all three Smith children have worked here at one point, before branching out (pun intended!) into tree surgery and education.
2002 saw incorporation and a name change
Two years into Nicola’s Jane Smith career, the business became a limited company, changing its name to Jane Smith Financial Planning Limited.
This was also the year we moved away from the network model and became directly authorised by the FCA – a huge milestone for the company.
In 2009, we moved to our current home and haven’t looked back
The Jane Smith Financial Planning team packed up their desks and moved to Olney Office Park in 2009.
Olney has been home to the Jane Smith team ever since. But it also boasts some other famous sons, as we discovered when researching for our blog ‘5 famous people you probably didn’t know were from Olney’ this summer.
2010 saw Jane enter retirement
After decades of helping her clients achieve their financial dreams, Jane Smith left the profession and took a well-deserved retirement in 2010.
It was at this point, that her daughter Nicola took over responsibility for all client work.
In 2016 we became a Chartered firm
The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is more than 100 years old and awards Chartered status to individuals and firms committed to excellence.
We’re proud of our Chartered status. It shows you that you’re in safe hands, working with a firm committed to maintaining high standards in qualifications, ethics, business practices and professional development. All of which completely aligns with our customer-first approach.
Of the thousands of advice and planning firms in the UK, only around 14% (circa 700 firms) hold Chartered status.
We achieved Chartered status in 2016 but we didn’t stop there…
2019 marked our 25th anniversary
Can it really be five years since our 25th-anniversary celebrations at Saxby’s Cider?
And then in 2020, we became an Accredited Financial Planning firm
…Having achieved Chartered status, we then became one of only around 60 UK-based CISI Accredited Financial Planning firms and one of only a handful to be both Accredited and Chartered.
Read more about What our Accredited and Chartered status means for you here.
Top rated firms as featured in The Times, The Mail and The Telegraph
Based on achieving the necessary criteria (for both numbers and standards) for client reviews on the VouchedFor platform, we were delighted to be included in all of these publications in 2024. We are officially one of the Top 100 firms in the UK!
Thank you very much for your reviews which helped us achieve this accolade!
30th birthday this year
A lot has happened in our first 30 years, from a global financial crisis to the coronavirus pandemic and incredible political upheaval at home and globally.
We’re incredibly proud of all we’ve achieved in our first 30 years and look forward to taking the business into its next 30 years.
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