Chancellor Year in Review
Internal
Perhaps the biggest change at Chancellor in 2019 was Dave Heaton starting his new role. Dave started work in the financial services industry on the 9th July 1979. He had decided a few years ago that once he hit the 40-year mark in July 2019, he would change direction slightly and focus on Business Development which has been an important part of his job roles since 2006. Dave who is known by many of Chancellors clients, having worked with Grant since 1998, has achieved the highest honour our professional body bestow – namely Fellowship of The Personal Finance Society, and he was delighted to be awarded The Ernest Morgan Award by The Chartered Insurance Institute in 2018. We are delighted that Dave will continue to work with us in a role that continues to utilise and build on his considerable skills.
Chancellor’s team has always been known for its determination to keep its technical knowledge and Continuing Professional Development up to date by studying for and taking Chartered Insurance Institute examinations. During 2019 Dave Torkington, Rebecca Gomes, Emma Gudger, Sam Farnell and Ed Painter all successfully passed industry exams.
The Chancellor team were sad to report the passing of our much loved receptionist and typist Karen Gorozdy back in July. Karen was often the first person that a caller or visitor to our offices spoke to and many of our existing clients and contacts were as upset as the members of Chancellor team. Karen will be a very hard act to follow, but we were recently delighted to be joined by Julie King who had worked with her, Grant, Dave H, Posy and Janet in the late 1990s.
Client Focus
Following the introduction of our new back office administration system and our updated Client Portal in 2018, we introduced a cash flow modelling service in 2019. This has been well-received by our new and existing clients who are either looking to retire in the future or are already managing their retirement income.
We continued to build on the success of our technical training for professional practices such as solicitors and accountants.
Vision Statement
Early in 2019, in conjunction with an external consultant, we set time aside to really think about what “makes us tick” and our aims for the future. As a result, we recently published our Vision Statement containing details of our mission, our core value and who we help. In the “news” section of our website we have expanded on various aspects of the Statement, and we review this document internally on a regular basis to make sure that we are staying on track.
In December 2019 we undertook a survey with our clients and professional contacts and were delighted with the results. We aim to publish these in a future edition of this newsletter. We did receive some useful feedback which we have taken on board and will aim incorporate any suggestions into how we do things here, going forward. One suggestion was about the sometimes unavoidable use of financial services industry acronyms and jargon – which is covered in this month’s other article!
Charities and Community
We have always tried to “do our bit” in our home town of Bolton and beyond – and 2109 was no different.
We continued our corporate support of two of Bolton’s best loved charities – the Octagon Theatre and Bolton Lads and Girls Club.
To cut down on our Carbon Footprint, we donated the amount that we would have spent on sending Christmas Cards through the post to the charity Meningitis Now.
In time for the start of the new academic year, members of Chancellor’s team rallied around personally to donate almost 80 items of school clothing to Manchester’s Wood Street Mission, in conjunction with our friends at Santander Bank.
We also made a donation to the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, Centrepoint.
We never like to “rest on our laurels” so to speak, so we will continue to provide the excellent levels of service that our clients say we already provide but will continue to develop and innovate where we can.
Wishing you all the best for 2020.
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