Alan Gowling’s Post

The UK is home to one of the world’s leading Financial Services centres, and it’s not all in the City of London 🇬🇧 October 1996 was my first role in FS, starting out in High Street Banking for an organisation based in Bristol. Over the past 28 years I have worked for and on behalf of a good number of FS firms in and around the West Country. Gloucester, Cheltenham, Bristol, and Cardiff are the four big clusters for FS in the region, benefitting from the agglomeration for knowledge, infrastructure, and deep pools of experienced talent. It’s no longer just the large-scale and established ‘houses’ that are here for Banking and Insurance as the region is attracting its fair share of the Fintechs and the start-ups as the next generation also benefit. Having travelled these towns and cities across four different decades you catch yourself smiling at the buildings as you remember the programmes and the teams that you were part of that created some great outcomes for customers. #changemanagement #transformationalleadership #financialservices #timeflies #peopleandculture #teamwork Project One

Helping Britain Prosper: 2014 - 2024   It’s been 10 years since the team at Lloyds Banking Group launched its corporate purpose - ‘Helping Britain Prosper’. Any corporate purpose that lasts that long must have something going for it. We were fortunate at Lloyds in having a blank piece of paper to redefine its North Star and ‘Helping Britain Prosper’ fitted the bank like a pair of well-loved slippers. We used it to reset the culture and was underpinned by publicly stated targets that supported UK plc, its people, communities and employees. It’s hard not to be proud of something that has proven its worth through the last decade, although I’m sure my colleagues are bored of me talking about it.   However, the world has changed and corporate purpose has come to mean something different for some. Can you recall 2019? It feels like a very long time ago. We’ve had wars, a pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis since but in that year it seemed as though the corporate world was on the cusp of a fundamental change. 181 CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies signed up to a redefinition of a corporation that committed it to deliver value to stakeholders (not just shareholders) driven by a core purpose that served the needs of the many. In the UK, companies were having to report for the first time on how they are acting in the best interests of their employees, and to consider the impact of their operations on communities and the environment. All good stuff.   As pressure has built on business margins, the warm words and commitments of 2019 have taken a back seat. Corporate purpose - like ESG and acting for the benefit of ‘all stakeholder interests’ - has been drawn into the battlefield of woke and all its accompanying mudslinging. I hope the recent retrenchment is temporary. Establishing and defining a corporate purpose that reflects the culture and values of an organisation is as critical now as it ever was. We need the next generation of business leaders to be inspired and to inspire others. It starts with purpose that means something. #corporate comms #purpose

Supporting the care sector is not just a business priority—it’s a responsibility we take seriously at NatWest. The care sector plays a crucial role in UK society, touching the lives of so many families during some of the most challenging times. That’s why we are delighted to have supported a recent business expansion in this vital sector, through a combined effort between our dedicated team and broker partners. We remain committed to #DoingAGreatDealForBrokers and empowering #SMEBusiness to grow and thrive in sectors that truly make a difference. #CareSector #BrokerSupport #BusinessGrowth #NatWest #NatWestBrokers #RoyalBankBrokers #UlsterBankBrokers #LombardBrokers

Part of my pitch that I put together whilst on the NatWest accelerator programme was "the numbers in your accounts tell a story". As with many stories you often need to dig deeper and read between the lines to recreate the numbers that are absent from the accounts. Here's an example of that: It is common for business owners with a limited company to draw a small salary of c' £12k per annum and compensate themselves the rest through dividends. For a while this was the most tax efficient way to get money out of your company as a director / shareholder. That's not necessarily the case anymore and there's no "one straight rule for all" now. Either way, director's salary is included in the costs of the Profit and Loss, dividends are not. With min wage going up to £11.44 per hour, you'll struggle to find a full time job paying £12k per annum. For a business where the business owner is heavily involved, you really need to strip out all the business owner's earnings and replace it with a market rate salary for someone to take on that role. Recreating the numbers with factors like this would reveal the true costs of the business and tell you the full story, not just some Harry Potter fiction.

This week's roundup of some of the more notable appointments and movements reported over the past 5 days within the UK Wealth and Private Banking sector; - Elizabeth Weir exits Brown Shipley to become head of UK domestic at Barclays Private Bank. This comes weeks after the appointment of Sasha Wiggins as CEO of PB & WM arms. - Victoria Hagmann joins UBS as Head of Wealth Management UK, Jersey and Guernsey as the Swiss bank targets a growing market share in the UK as part of a $5tn global wealth target by 2028. -John Parker (IFA) joins the wealth tech company Iress as Business Wealth Head as it targets the increasing administrative burden on advice businesses and their growing need for tech solutions in the UK. - Charles Stanley Investment Head Ian Sackfield has stepped down as MD IMS passing the torch after 25 years to David Pederson. Sackfield will remain with the business focusing on supporting the development of Charles Stanley & Co. Limited's Manchester presence. Have we missed anything? Please feel free to share and comment. Signia Search ; Building Connections Enabling Growth #WealthManagement #PrivateBanking #UKFinance #Appointments #Movements #BuildingConnectionsEnablingGrowth #peoplemoves #privatebanking #financialplanning #executivesearch #marketnews

We're proud to share that our very own Michael Hart was recently featured in Australian Broker, highlighting his remarkable journey from commercial banker to leader in the finance industry. Throughout Michael’s career, he has been driven by a commitment to achieving positive outcomes for his clients. As he told Australian Broker: “I have been fortunate to be referred to some complex lending cases by accounting firms, including mediating between a bank and a client. Working with an agri client, we managed to save them a significant amount of money by negotiating a much lower rate. We also recommended strategies to reduce other costs and increase their prices. This resulted in the client selling their business for several million more than the prior valuation and enjoying a dream retirement in France.” Michael continued, “Being part of that outcome drives me every day – adding value far in excess of what your services cost and seeing the material positive impact it can have on people’s lives.” Thanks to Mina Martin for the fantastic article. 🌐 You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gRkiGBjE #HalpinWealth #FinanceLeadership #ClientSuccess #CareerTransformation #ProfessionalGrowth #FinancialServices #ClientOutcomes #FinanceIndustry #ValueCreation #SuccessStories #LeadershipInFinance #SouthAustralia #NorthernTerritory #LifetimeWealthPartners #WealthPartners #YourWealthPartners

Core to our culture and ethos are our clients and our valued partnerships. Throughout the years of growth and change we have always maintained a focus on our standards and deliverables. Building trusted working relationships is key to our success, as discussed in the latest addition of the Y Factor, read more - https://lnkd.in/eKp39JKe #Yealand #theYfactor #teamwork #fundservices #fundadministration   

It’s been a busy and exciting start to October for everyone at Hampden Agencies Limited. Not least because we embarked upon our Client Roadshows.    As a leader at Lloyd's, we have a responsibility to meet and update our clients regularly.    Our week-long roadshows, which we host twice yearly, allow us to travel the country to meet with and listen to our clients.     So far, our roadshows have visited clients in York, Edinburgh, and London. Four more roadshows are happening this week in Salisbury, Cheltenham, and Newmarket, concluding with our second London roadshow.    As the number one provider of private capital to Lloyd's, it is our responsibility to update and meet our clients regularly.    Each roadshow allows our client to hear market updates and insights, including:    - An overview of our latest performance trends and details of the new syndicates added to our portfolio.  - A comprehensive assessment of the 2024 market forecast, crucial for shaping well-informed investment decisions.  - Illustrations of our client-first philosophy, highlighting bespoke solutions for both active and passive investors.    Below are photos from our first London roadshow, hosted at the amazing Merchant Taylors' Hall.    If you’d like to learn more about how you or your clients, can benefit from investing at Lloyd’s, leave a comment below or visit https://lnkd.in/eWnbMSQ9    #LloydsofLondon #HampdenAgenciesRoadshows #HampdenAgenciesLimited #investment #capitalmanagement #assetmanagement #highnetworth #hnwi #familyoffices #lloydsoflondon #londonmarket #familyoffice #insuranceindustry #insuranceagency #insuranceadvisor #insurance #HowdenRE #insurancepodcast #reinsurance #insuranceindustry #insuranceagency #insuranceadvisor   (Capital may be at risk)

The UK govt's divestment from NatWest, offering shares at a discount, is a golden opportunity for investors to tap into a bank showing resilience and growth. With new CEO Paul Thwaite at the helm and brokers like AJ Bell mobilizing investors, this sale could mark a transformative moment for the sector. Your thoughts on this strategic move? #NatWest #InvestmentOpportunity #FinancialMarkets Join the conversation below! Original article: https://lnkd.in/g4Zi-tDH

Calling all Commercial Finance brokers! I’ve had a few new connections in the above space recently and also some messages from existing connections, asking about how we could work together and the like. Here at NatWest we do have a specific broker proposition, and a very good, award winning one at that. I’ve popped in the comments the link to the website that covers off all things broker, so if you wanted to know more, please go and check it out. #commercialfinance #brokers #commercialfinancebrokers