A look back at 2023 at HarperLees

The end of the year is always a good time to reflect on the achievements and successes of the past 12 months.

While 2023 has certainly been an eventful year in the financial world, for the team here at HarperLees there have been many successes to celebrate both for our business and, more importantly, for our clients.

We hope you’ll enjoy reflecting on some of the things we achieved this year and what they mean for you.

We were selected as a VouchedFor Top Rated Firm

We are delighted to have been featured in VouchedFor’s Top Rated Guide for 2023. It is a real privilege to have been selected for this prestigious list, particularly since each of our four planners were chosen as Top Rated Advisers as well as our firm being listed.

The guide is distributed by the Times and celebrates the very best financial advice firms in the UK based on client feedback. With only 103 places on the list, we’re extremely proud to have been selected.

We’d like to extend our thanks to all our clients, since without your trust in us and your honest feedback, we wouldn’t be able to do the work we do in supporting you.

You can read more about the guide on our website.

You helped us to support Kids Inspire, Tree of Hope, Teenage Cancer Trust and Witham Ladies Rugby Club

Every year, HarperLees supports a number of charitable causes, and this year was no different. We supported four organisations this year, as follows.

Kids Inspire

We chose to support Kids Inspire for our charity incentive this year. Kids Inspire aims to provide holistic specialist services to young people and their families affected by trauma or negative experiences.

For each referral we received that led to an initial meeting, we donated £50 to this vital charity. We have also donated to the charity in lieu of sending our usual Christmas cards to clients.

We’d like to thank every client who has recommended our services for supporting both our business and this worthy charitable cause.

Tree of Hope

Last year, our paraplanner Laura Emerson completed the Eton Dorney Sprint Triathlon to raise money for her friend’s daughter, Hope, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Hope is unable to sit, stand, or walk unaided.

In April of this year, director Adrian Quick took on a challenge of his own to raise more funds to support Hope by climbing Ben Nevis.

Adrian was able to raise £2,030 in aid of the charity Tree of Hope, which helps transform the lives of sick and disabled children across the UK.

Teenage Cancer Trust

Mark completed his 20th half marathon this year. He ran the Great North Run amid a heatwave then flash floods, raising £1,571 for Teenage Cancer Trust.

We’re very proud of our team’s efforts and would like to thank everyone who supported them with donations and encouragement.

Witham Ladies Rugby Club

We were proud to support the Witham Ladies Rugby club through sponsoring one of their players, our very own Director Steph. The team were newly formed in 2022 and are going from strength to strength, securing their first win in a league match earlier this month.

We look forward to seeing what they will achieve in 2024 and seeing Steph limp in on a Monday morning bruised but proud.

 We welcomed two new members of staff

This year, we were delighted to welcome two new team members.

Steven Burgess has joined us as an Assistant Financial Planner, learning the HarperLees approach to delivering high-quality lifestyle financial planning to our clients. We expect Steven will become a Financial Planner in 2024.

Samuel Dougall is our new Business Administrator and has been doing an excellent job in getting to know our systems and bringing additional skills to our team.

Our staff achieved lots of new qualifications

We’re proud to announce that many of our staff have taken great strides forward in their professional development.

• Tom has achieved his Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and is now working towards the Advanced Diploma.
• Brad has passed three exams in 2023 covering Investment Principles, Personal Taxation, and Pensions. He is only two exams away from achieving his Diploma. Brad joined HarperLees as Client Administrator and we are delighted to announce he has recently been promoted to Paraplanner.
• Similarly, Dee is two exams away from achieving her Diploma after passing the Pensions and Investment Principles this year.
• Trey has just one more Advanced Diploma exam to pass before he can apply for his Chartered status!

These qualifications allow us to fulfil our responsibilities as a Chartered financial planning firm. This prestigious accreditation is granted by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and is the “gold standard” of professionalism in the financial planning world.

For our clients, this means you can feel reassured that you’re working with a team that upholds the very highest standards as we support you in achieving your long-term financial goals.

Work, Life and Wellbeing

As clients of HarperLees, you will be familiar with our messages of living life to the full and aims to balance your own lives with doing things that make you happy! After a successful trial since the summer, we have decided to implement our own advice within the team. We will be closing the office on Friday afternoons at 1pm in 2024, so the staff can spend time on their ‘happy’ activities.

Get in touch

If you’d like to know more about how we can support you in achieving your financial goals in 2024 and beyond, please contact us today.

You can email us at info@harperlees.co.uk or call 01277 350560.  We look forward to speaking to you.